Harlingen CISD reports steady enrollment, preliminary local property valuation rise and budget schedule; federal grants monitored after brief pause

Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District finance staff briefed the Finance and Planning Committee on enrollment, property valuations, the budget calendar and recent federal guidance affecting grants, and outlined next steps for campus budget work and federal drawdowns.

"Our current enrollment is 16,441 students. It's it's still, currently 339 students less from prior year, still resulting in the approximate, dollars 2,100,000.0 in current loss of revenue," the presenter said, reporting the Jan. 31 enrollment total and an estimated revenue impact tied to reduced average daily attendance and enrollment. The presenter said the district’s current attendance rate was 93.64% against a 94.5% goal and that the district will submit a waiver to TEA for a winter day held Jan. 22 to help average daily attendance calculations.

On property values, finance staff said the state comptroller released preliminary local property values of a little over $5 billion, about a $110 million increase from last year; officials highlighted that this year the state provided a "local value" figure rather than a state value, which staff said should avoid reductions in state funding that occurred under the state‑value reporting in prior years.

Budget planning remains on a standard calendar: departments and campuses completed a first budget workshop in January, a final workshop is scheduled for February, campuses and departments should submit budget workbooks to the business office by March, and board workshops on the budget will run March through May with a goal of adopting a compensation plan in May and a proposed budget for board approval in June.

Finance staff briefed trustees on the federal grant situation: an OMB memo issued Jan. 27 briefly caused a federal "pause" on grants; that memo was rescinded and staff said there is currently no change to federal funding. As a precaution, the district will accelerate federal drawdowns and ask campuses to submit receiving reports promptly; staff said they will draw down federal reimbursements every two weeks rather than monthly while monitoring federal changes. The presenter provided historical federal-expenditure figures: roughly $59.5 million in federal expenditures in the prior year and $50 million budgeted for the current year.

Board members asked about waiver triggers for low attendance days, the per‑student revenue impact of valuation changes and how finance staff will assist departments and newer principals during budget season. Finance staff said they will meet individually with campuses that request help and will reach out proactively to new principals and directors. Staff also said central office directors have begun staffing work so staffing decisions and budget planning will proceed in parallel.

No formal vote was taken; staff requested that principals and department heads submit budgets on schedule and asked campuses to accelerate federal receiving reports to facilitate faster reimbursements if federal guidance remains unsettled.