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CFISD board warned of budget pressure as Legislature begins session; trustees press for homestead-exemption relief and special-education fixes
Summary
District staff outlined drivers of a projected multimillion-dollar deficit, options for using fund balance, and key bills to watch in the 89th Texas Legislature. Trustees and the superintendent stressed that state-level choices on teacher pay, homestead-exemption recognition and special-education funding will shape next year’s budget.
CYPRESS-FAIRBANKS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT — District finance and legislative staff told trustees Feb. 6 that long-term inflation, flat state per-student funding, declining average daily attendance and the expiration of federal stimulus funds have combined to create a large budget gap for 2024–25 and to influence planning for 2025–26.
Karen Smith, the district’s finance lead, reviewed state funding mechanics and the local drivers of the district’s projected deficit. She said the basic allotment remains $6,160 (last increased under House Bill 3 in 2019), that the district has held a 20% local optional homestead exemption for years and that special-population weights and average daily attendance directly affect state revenue. Smith listed major cost increases the district must absorb: a roughly $63 million effect from the local optional homestead exemption on the maintenance-and-operations side, about $15 million from…
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