Midland ISD projects roughly $7.9 million for 2025–26; reports 279.5 FTE reductions and updated revenue per ADA under HB 2

Mr. Durham, finance staff for Midland Independent School District, told the Board of Trustees on June 10 that the administration projects approximately $7,900,000 for the 2025–26 budget under current assumptions and the enacted legislation from the 89th Texas Legislature.

The update included figures for the current 2024–25 fiscal year: a final average daily attendance (ADA) of 26,265.284 students, a funded attendance rate of 92.5%, and a conservative projection of $29,900,000 going into fund balance at the end of the fiscal year. Durham said that projection is an improvement from last month’s estimate of about $31,000,000.

District priorities for the 2025–26 budget, Durham said, are adopting a sustainable budget, providing districtwide compensation increases, and developing a data-driven budget aligned with board goals and the strategic plan. To meet those priorities, the administration reported personnel reductions and non‑payroll efficiencies: the district reduced about 279.5 full‑time‑equivalent (FTE) positions from an opening‑of‑year FTE count near 3,400 to a projected 3,164 FTEs for the next fiscal year.

Durham reported $22,600,000 in payroll efficiencies in the general fund and approximately $12,600,000 in non‑payroll general fund efficiencies. He also said the district revised its perfect‑attendance incentive to limit eligibility to staff who work in classrooms (teachers, associate teachers and classroom instructional aides) and removed a locally budgeted retention incentive from the operating budget; that retention language remains in the compensation plan as contingent on outside funding.

On revenues, Durham presented updated revenue‑per‑ADA figures under provisions of House Bill 2 passed by the 89th Texas Legislature. He said Midland ISD’s projection for the current year is roughly $10,000 per ADA and that, under the updated assumptions tied to recent legislation, the district estimates approximately $10,488 per ADA for planning purposes. Enrollment and revenue assumptions for 2025–26 listed in the presentation included enrollment of about 30,400 students, ADA of 27,103 and a funded attendance rate of 93 percent. Durham noted two revenue items not yet included in the 2025–26 projection: pending royalty payments for new leases and proceeds from the sale of real property.

Board members asked for additional public and legislative communication about the net effect of new state funding because, as one trustee put it, increases are accompanied by “unfunded mandates.” Mr. Bishop, board trustee, asked administrators to publish a clear visual showing the allotment increases alongside estimated costs the district must absorb to comply with new law: “I think it'd be smart for the district to send out to the public…we got this increase. But with this increase, we're actually only gonna net this because…this is what we think our cost we're gonna have to incur to the district is to comply with unfunded mandates in HB 2.”

Durham closed the presentation with a timeline: the administration will bring final budget amendments for 2024–25 and the budget adoption item for 2025–26 later this month, a debt‑deferral (defusion) resolution is expected next month, and the district plans to set the tax rate for tax year 2025 in September. He cautioned that all figures were “contingent based off current interpretations from the 89th legislative session, and is subject to change based off further clarification that the district receives from the state.”

The update was informational; no final budget adoption vote occurred during the June 10 meeting.