Laredo ISD trustees review three pay models, budget shortfall estimates ahead of adoption vote

Laredo Independent School District officials presented a salary study and three general-pay models and reviewed the district—s fund-balance position at a board workshop on June 23, 2025, laying out trade-offs trustees must weigh before a budget adoption vote scheduled at the regular meeting.

Representatives from the district—s human resources office, TASB and the finance office told trustees they had developed three general-pay options (2 percent, 3 percent and 3.5 percent) and restructured pay ranges to align midpoints with market data. Presenters said House Bill 2 (HB2) teacher-retention allotments would cover a large portion of the teacher increases but that other pay groups would rely on local revenue or one-time reserves.

Why it matters: the board—s policy requires a general-fund reserve equal to two months of operating costs (about $42 million), while the district—s unassigned fund balance is about $62.7 million. Staff warned trustees that approving larger pay increases without offsetting savings or additional revenue would reduce reserves and could require drawing on fund balance in future years.

What presenters told the board Miss Rogelio of Human Resources reviewed proposed teacher and non-teacher schedules and examples of administrative and professional pay changes. She said staff produced three cost models after incorporating trustee direction: approximately $12.44 million (2 percent), $12.8 million (3 percent) and about $13.0 million (3.5 percent) in total recurring payroll impact across the district as modeled with the new pay structures and minimums. She and TASB consultant Luz Cadena said HB2 teacher-retention funding is estimated at about $6.3 million and an additional HB2 allotment for support staff retention was…