The El Paso Independent School District finance committee reviewed year-to-date financial statements on Jan. 13 and staff outlined the budget development calendar that will guide preparation for the 2026–27 school year.

Treasurer Walt Byers walked trustees through the district's financial statements as of Nov. 30, 2025. He said the board adopted revenues of $541,200,000 and an adopted expenditure budget of $546,700,000 for FY26. Based on those adopted-line figures, expenditures exceed revenues by roughly $5.5 million.

Byers said the district's amended fiscal-year budget is currently about $561,300,000 — an increase of roughly $14.6 million from the adopted amount — driven primarily by roll-forward funds (~$8.5 million), a $500,000 lease purchase for student devices and a $1.7 million increase tied to recently approved school safety allotment legislation.

On revenues, Byers reported year-to-date actual collections of about $170,900,000 and noted that property-tax receipts typically rise December through February. He also said state funding includes restricted or pass-through items such as the teacher retention allotment (cited in the presentation as $2,500 for teachers with three to four years' experience and $5,000 for those with five or more).

Byers reviewed other funds: the Child Nutrition Fund closed the month at about $6,900,000; available bond-fund balance was cited at $21,700,000; print shop internal-service fund closed the month at $376,009.78; the workers' compensation internal-service fund closed the month at $713,000. Byers said the district's health insurance funds closed the month with an "11.9 deficit" (the presentation did not specify units for that figure).

The presentation also summarized special revenue (grants): an approved federal grants budget of about $136,700,000 (largest: Title I, Part A), state funding shown at $48,300,000 and local grant budget at $644,000 — total grant budgeted at about $185,700,000. Byers noted prior-year one-time ARP/related funds were larger (presentation cited ~$370,000,000 in a prior year).

CFO Maraghuirra closed by reviewing the budget development calendar: staff will propose a March board-date change, align budget workshops, perform campus staffing reviews and department budget hearings in coming weeks, and present a decision-making framework for budget prioritization in February.

What comes next: Trustees asked for follow-up questions to be routed through the superintendent; staff will return with budget-calendar materials and the promised workers' compensation claims-cost board report.