College Station ISD trustees weigh options to cover projected 2025–26 shortfall

College Station ISD trustees and district staff on Feb. 18 discussed options to address a projected 2025–26 budget deficit, focusing on preserving the district’s fund balance while avoiding cuts that would directly affect students and classrooms.

District staff told trustees the district’s current total fund balance is $43,905,000, of which about $38.05 million is unassigned and $3.9 million is committed, roughly three months of operating expenditures. Staff said auditors recommend a fund balance of three to six months and that district finance leaders would prefer five to six months.

The discussion came as trustees and staff reviewed early scenarios for the district’s shift to a July 1 fiscal year (a 10‑month first budget period), which staff said will temporarily create additional year‑end fund balance even if the district runs a structural shortfall on a 12‑month basis. Staff said a 12‑month budget built from current assumptions would show about a $5 million deficit unless changes or new revenue materialize.

Why it matters: trustees cautioned against reducing the fund balance so far that general operations or bond ratings are jeopardized. “One of our requirements be that we not dip into the fund balance so much that it…puts us in a creates problems as far as having operating capital,” a trustee said during the workshop.

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