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Cypress-Fairbanks ISD explains how Texas divides school funding into M&O and I&S
Summary
A CFISD presenter explained that Texas splits public school funding into two legally separate buckets—maintenance and operations (M&O) for day-to-day costs and interest and sinking (I&S) for voter-approved bonds—and emphasized that state law prevents moving money between them.
A presenter for Cypress‑Fairbanks ISD told the CFISD community that Texas divides public school funding into two separate categories: maintenance and operations, and interest and sinking. "The first bucket is M&O, which stands for maintenance and operations," the presenter said, describing that fund as the district's "checkbook for running our schools every day" and noting it pays for "staff salaries, classroom supplies, utilities, and daily operational needs."
The presenter said the second bucket is I&S — "interest and sinking" — which the district uses to service voter-approved bonded debt. "This bucket generates funds used exclusively to service voter-approved bonded debt. It helps the district finance long-term capital projects like constructing new schools, renovating existing buildings, and expanding safety infrastructure," the presenter said.
The video emphasized a legal constraint: "By state law, money cannot be moved between these two buckets," the presenter said, adding that bond funds cannot be used to give teachers raises or to pay daily utilities and must be used for principal and interest tied to facilities. The transcript does not name a specific Texas statute or code section; the presenter described the restriction only as "state law."
The presenter did not identify themselves by name in the transcript; the remarks were addressed to the "CFISD community." The district indicated the video is an explainer and said a follow-up installment will describe how the state determines the amounts placed into each fund.
Understanding the distinction matters for voters: bond packages approved by voters pay for long-term capital projects and cannot legally be repurposed for operating costs such as teacher pay. The follow-up video, the presenter said, will explain how the state allocates funding into the two buckets.
