College Station ISD staff outline budget pressure from rising costs, proposed state bills and declining enrollment

Miss Wilson, a College Station ISD staff member who presented the district's 2025'26 budget update, told the school board the 89th Texas Legislature's actions and proposed bills will be decisive for the district's final staffing and budget decisions.

The presentation outlined several parallel pressures: proposed increases to the basic allotment in a committee substitute for House Bill 2, draft changes in special education and bilingual funding in other bills, and broad inflationary cost increases the district must absorb now. Miss Wilson said the committee substitute to House Bill 2 would raise the basic allotment from $6,160 to $6,555 and that a separate Senate bill (Senate Bill 26) and other measures under consideration would change teacher raise formulas and some hold-harmless provisions.

The budget update explained why those changes matter. Miss Wilson said the district's formulas are tied to the basic allotment and to the so-called 'golden penny yield.' She said proposals that shift revenue between those mechanisms could reduce the district's routine inflationary adjustment unless the Legislature preserves it. She also said the Legislature is considering increases to special education, bilingual and early education allotments and a new fine-arts allotment.

Why it matters: College Station ISD reported program-level shortfalls relative to state funding allocations. Miss Wilson said the district spends approximately $5.4 million more on program intent 99 services than it receives from the state after TEA reallocations. She identified other program shortfalls that the district covers locally: about $4.1 million more for transportation, $1.7 million more for campus security and school resource officers, $958,000 more for gifted and talented services and $430,000 more for bilingual instruction.

Miss Wilson also described local cost pressures unrelated to state funding: since 2019 the district has paid 26.6 percent more in total compensation, health insurance costs that have risen substantially and utility and fuel costs increases of 16 percent and 49 percent respectively.

Enrollment and staffing scenarios: the district's demographer estimated a gain of 19 students for the year, but the district is down 48 students this year and the demographer projects a further decline of about 66 students. Miss Wilson said the district spends about 83 percent of its general fund on payroll and that the district's turnover rate is 17.6 percent.

Using the state's 22-to-1 class-size metric as a planning benchmark, the presentation showed the district could absorb seven positions and remain at 22-to-1, and outlined alternative scenarios that would absorb more positions if class-size targets were changed: moving kindergarten through fourth grade to 23-to-1 would allow the district to absorb an additional four positions, and moving all elementary grade levels to 23-to-1 could absorb 13 positions. For secondary schools, adopting a 25-student class constant could permit about nine positions to be absorbed and an estimated $607,000 in savings, the presentation said.

Miss Wilson emphasized that any teacher position changes would be accomplished through attrition only, not layoffs. She said district leaders are also pursuing a district-wide zero-based review of nonpayroll budgets and looking for savings in supplies (where the district spends more per student than peers) and other categories to avoid classroom impact when possible.

Reserve levels and timeline: the district reported it currently holds about 3.44 months of operating fund balance, with roughly $38 million in unassigned fund balance. Miss Wilson warned that the budget process spans two fiscal years and that actions taken in year one affect year two, reinforcing the need to finalize staffing plans before the summer hiring season if possible. The district expects to present a near-complete budget under current law in May, further scenarios in June and — depending on legislative action — a possible special meeting before July 1 to adopt a final budget.

Board discussion: trustees pressed staff for more detail on non-payroll savings and on the distributional impact of proposed class-size changes. Several trustees expressed concern about increasing class sizes even if the reductions come through attrition; others urged continued work to identify savings outside of classroom staffing. Trustees also encouraged community engagement with legislators during the session.

Next steps: staff will continue to monitor the legislative session, finalize staffing models and bring additional budget scenarios and department-level zero-based options to the board at forthcoming meetings. Miss Wilson said May materials will show a complete budget built on current law, and the district will amend that plan if the Legislature changes funding levels.

Ending: District staff emphasized they will prioritize preserving classroom positions where possible, make staffing adjustments by attrition and return to the board with updated numbers as legislative outcomes become clearer.