College Station ISD previews 2025–26 budget, outlines teacher pay options and timing for tax-rate decision

College Station Independent School District officials on June 17 presented a proposed 2025–26 budget and multiple compensation scenarios that would raise teacher and staff pay, and told the Board of Trustees the district must adopt a budget by July 1 to continue payroll and expenditures.

The presentation, given by Heather Wilson, district staff member, outlined three fund areas—child nutrition, debt service and the general fund—and described the pay scenarios built around the state’s House Bill 2 allotments. Wilson said the district is preparing for certified property values and TEA guidance before setting a final tax rate.

Why it matters: the board must adopt a legally compliant budget by July 1, or the district legally cannot expend funds. The presentation also signaled potential uses of state HB2 funding for one-time or ongoing salary increases and noted a timing-driven deficit in the debt service fund tied to a fiscal-year change.

Wilson summarized the child nutrition fund as roughly balanced, saying the district did not raise student meal prices and that federal reimbursements during COVID had previously elevated revenue. She told trustees the child nutrition budget is “balanced” at approximately $9.0 million in revenues and expenditures and noted a modest decline in local revenue that staff offset with spending reductions.

On debt service, Wilson said the district proposes to hold the debt-service tax at 23.7¢ per $100 of assessed value, the same rate used the prior year, but warned that a roughly $2.0 million deficit appears…