Belton ISD previews deeper cuts, staffing-model shifts as district plans for 2026–27 deficit

Belton ISD leaders told the Board of Trustees at a budget workshop that the district’s multi-year financial picture remains strained and that additional reductions will likely be required to balance the 2026–27 budget.

The superintendent said the district has faced a convergence of pressures — stagnant basic allotment levels since 2019, record inflation, shifting comptroller templates tied to homestead exemptions, slowing enrollment and a sudden federal funding reduction for SHARS — and that those changes eroded previously projected revenue. "We had received a letter from the federal government that our federal funding, particularly our SHARS funding, had overnight cut in half," the superintendent said, indicating the cut represented about $1,130,000 for Belton ISD.

Why it matters: district staff said past steps reduced an earlier projected shortfall and enabled a balanced 2025–26 budget after one-time disaster support, but the board was shown new projections that, under current assumptions, leave roughly a $2 million deficit for 2026–27. If the board also pursues long-term priorities simultaneously — adding capital projects or staff pay increases — staff estimated about $8.6 million in additional reductions would be required to remain within fund-balance policy.

Details and proposed steps: presenters told trustees the district previously identified $6.5 million in expenditure reductions for earlier years and credited a safety/security grant and about $2.1 million in disaster relief with helping adopt a balanced 2025–26 budget. The district has since identified additional district-wide reductions and expects another roughly $4 million in cuts under current planning. The presentation spelled out specific levers: stricter adherence to staffing guidelines, campus budget reductions, departmental cuts, deferred projects and program evaluations.

Instructional-support redesign: district staff also proposed redesigning instructional supports to save money while maintaining classroom delivery. Gabby, a cabinet member, said the elementary level will move to six shared instructional coaches (each supporting two campuses) and secondary campuses will rely on four core-content lead teachers, who will receive stipends and be eligible for statewide teacher-raise funding. "Elementary level, we will be reducing in the coming school year to 6 shared instructional coaches," Gabby said, describing campus pairings and shared professional learning time.

Library and intervention changes: the district plans to reclassify library roles to 'Innovation Specialist' to align duties with teacher-pay eligibility for state raises; Gabby said that change also deliberately shifts some library staff responsibilities toward gifted-and-talented services. For interventions, she said the district will move from a dedicated interventionist at each elementary campus to a shared, grade-level approach with two teacher-leader stipends per campus; "We will not have an interventionist role on our campuses anymore," she said, adding that intervention services will continue through the MTSS process.

Staff impacts and compensation: trustees asked whether incumbents would lose jobs and how pay would be affected. District leadership said the goal is to reassign affected staff within Belton ISD and avoid involuntary separations, relying on attrition and reassignments. Staff explained that reclassifying incumbents to teacher schedules and eligible lead roles should, in many cases, make them eligible for House Bill 2/TIA increases or stipends, and that exact effects will depend on final role assignments.

Next steps: presenters stressed this was an informational workshop and no board action was requested; trustees will consider formal budget actions later in the process, with final adoption scheduled in August. The district also noted some funding elements — notably a new special-education funding formula and final comptroller values — remain unresolved and could change projections when they are released.

The workshop concluded with no votes taken; staff will continue refining assumptions and return with formal recommendations ahead of the August adoption timeline.