Katy ISD CFO: Without state funding changes, 2025–26 pay raises unlikely as district plans two new schools

Katy Independent School District Chief Financial Officer Chris Smith told trustees on Jan. 13 that, unless the Texas Legislature changes state school funding, the district will likely be unable to afford a salary increase for 2025–26.

“We will not be able to afford a salary increase. Nobody's fault in this room. It's, it's it's just a fact of state funding,” Smith said during a presentation the board received at its work-study meeting.

Smith framed the 2025–26 budget development as starting from a constrained position: enrollment growth has slowed, some state funding allotments remain capped or prorated, and the district is already spending a large share of its general fund on compensation. He told trustees the district is planning to open two new elementary schools — identified in district materials as elementaries 47 and 48 — and must staff those campuses even as projected student growth eases.

Why it matters: Katy ISD is one of the fastest-growing districts in Texas, and the district said it expects only modest student growth year…