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Ysleta ISD outlines three‑year financial stabilization plan as enrollment declines deepen
Summary
Ysleta ISD finance staff described measures to cut spending and close a multi‑million dollar shortfall after enrollment losses; the administration projects spending fund balance this year and next while pursuing a three‑year recovery plan.
Ysleta ISD finance leaders presented a financial stabilization plan that administrators say has already reduced an earlier projected shortfall and outlines additional steps to bring the district back into balance over three years.
Chief Finance & Operations Officer Lindley Cambern said the district adopted an intentional $22.2 million deficit for fiscal year 2025‑26 but had earlier faced projections of a much larger shortfall. “By February 2025, we said, ‘woah’—we were looking at a deficit of $56.4 million,” she said, and reported that administrative measures reduced that projection to $43.1 million by the June audit close.
Cambern and staff tied most of the revenue pressure to declining enrollment: the budget assumed a loss of about 1,000 students (about $10 million in state revenue) and the district lost an additional 400 students after adoption (about $4 million). Finance staff described actions now in place: hiring limitations and position reviews, lowered procurement card limits, tighter review of technology purchases, renegotiating contracts, limiting travel and preventing stockpiling of supplies.
The administration also identified one‑time and recurring savings measures, including participation in a subscription solar program with El Paso Electric (administration estimates roughly $550,000 in annual savings when fully implemented; $250,000 in partial‑year savings this year). Cambern said that, after current measures, administration projects ending general‑fund reserves in the low‑to‑mid‑$20‑million range rather than the lower balance that earlier projections suggested.
Trustees pressed for clarity on whether the district is using reserves for recurring costs; staff confirmed the district plans to use fund balance this year and next but emphasized this is part of an intentional, disclosed strategy tied to the stabilization plan. Cambern told the board she expects administration will bring recommendations to limit raises and that additional stipends for hourly employees are unlikely given current constraints. She committed to continuing monthly updates to the board as actions are implemented.
Administration characterized the plan as a combination of cost containment, contract renegotiation and programmatic adjustments designed to close the gap over a multi‑year horizon and return the district to structural balance.
