Trustees review budget scenarios as HB2 and SB26 reshape state funding picture

Boerne ISD trustees spent the bulk of their May workshop reviewing the district—s budget assumptions and modeled scenarios that depend on pending state legislation. District finance staff said their demographer projects enrollment around 11,002 for 2025–26 (ADA modeled at 94% of enrollment) and presented scaled property valuation numbers after a 2% reduction to reflect anticipated appeals. Staff framed three revenue scenarios: current law, Senate Bill 26 (teacher-salary-focused increases), and House Bill 2 (HB2), which raises the basic allotment and requires that 40% of any new funding be spent on compensation, with 75% of that directed to teachers, counselors, nurses and librarians.

Under preliminary modeling, staff said HB2 would increase state revenues to the district by roughly $3.6 million but with strings attached for compensation; SB26 would provide a larger direct teacher-pay boost in the scenarios staff ran (roughly $3.5 million in teacher-directed funding in the board—s model). Even with those increases, staff cautioned, district-level impacts vary widely by local property values and hold-harmless provisions; staff said Boerne—s configuration yields a comparatively modest per-ADA increase versus some neighboring or rural districts that would gain substantially more under HB2.

Trustee Rich Senna described drafting and sending a letter to Senator Campbell and other lawmakers asking for a statutory minimum per-ADA increase (for example, a $400 per ADA floor, which staff estimated would cost about $150 million statewide) to reduce disparities the board views as baked into HB2—s formulas. Senna told trustees staff in the senator—s office responded within an hour and that he and district staff were continuing outreach to CFOs and superintendents in similarly affected districts.

Staff also presented compensation options for the district under each scenario: under current law a modest 2% across-the-board increase would produce a projected $2.7 million deficit when combined with other priorities; SB26-style funding would enable larger teacher raises while HB2—s constraints would require the district to earmark portions of any new state revenue for specified employee groups. Board members pressed staff on special-education funding models, insurance and ACA compliance costs, and multi-year implications; staff said the special-education intensity-based model under discussion at the state level would be complex and might not yield identifiable local impacts until 2026–27.

On debt management, staff described maintaining an interest-and-sinking (I&S) levy near 32.4% and using defeasance/refunding strategies to reduce future interest, noting the 2014 and 2016 bond series call dates and modeling potential interest savings while warning that proposed House Bill 19 could limit the district—s ability to defease without losing state funding.

Staff closed with updates on required budgets the board must adopt: a proposed Child Nutrition budget of about $3.7 million (based on roughly 5,800 meals per day at 52% participation) and federal programs including IDEA-B (~$2 million), National School Lunch (~$1.5 million) and Title I (~$650,000). Staff noted meal pricing will be set by the Texas Department of Agriculture tool expected this summer. The district scheduled follow-up budget meetings in June to adopt required funds after legislative outcomes and certified values become available.