CFO: Austin ISD narrows FY24‑25 deficit to about $74.1M as enrollment falls by roughly 3,000 students
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Summary
CFO Katrina Montgomery reported an unaudited FY24‑25 deficit of approximately $74.1 million (an improvement from earlier projections) and outlined strategies — hiring freeze, spending controls, property monetization and staffing guideline changes — aimed at restoring fund balance to 20% by FY27‑28.
Katrina Montgomery, Austin ISD’s chief financial officer, told trustees on Dec. 18 that the district’s unaudited FY24‑25 deficit landed at about $74.1 million, an improvement of roughly $4 million from an earlier projection. Montgomery said the district initially projected larger deficits midyear but narrowed the shortfall through a combination of controls and revenue adjustments.
Montgomery and finance staff highlighted enrollment as a key variable: the district adopted an FY25‑26 enrollment of 72,303 students and has seen roughly a 3,000‑student decline since adoption, a shift that materially affects revenue assumptions and planning. The presentation showed average daily attendance (ADA) has not fallen as far as enrollment — a point staff credited to campus efforts to improve attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism.
To rebuild fund balance, administration reviewed a multi‑year plan that targets a district fund balance of 20% by FY27‑28. Montgomery listed strategies including a central‑office restructure already enacted, an external hiring freeze starting Jan. 5, earlier implementation of spending controls, tiered non‑staffing fund releases for campuses, a stipend evaluation, master‑schedule and staffing guideline revisions, and property monetization (one property sale expected this fiscal year; others possible later).
Trustees pressed for clearer risk modeling and scenario analysis. Trustee Singh requested explicit enrollment‑sensitivity scenarios (for example, the fiscal effect of a 5% or 10% enrollment drop) and asked administration to catalog risks that could affect budget or bond ratings. Montgomery and the superintendent agreed to return with risk‑quantified slides and to provide more granular figures for pending strategies that are currently listed without assigned dollar values.
Trustees also asked for ongoing transparency on the status of identified strategies, including vacancy savings and the property‑monetization timeline. Montgomery said the finance team has visited 83 campuses this year and will continue engagement with principals as spending controls and tiered releases are refined.
What happens next: staff will prepare risk‑scenario slides and provide follow‑up information on the status and expected savings of pending strategies ahead of January budget conversations.