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Keller ISD trustees warned HB2 Senate substitute could limit local spending as budget cuts loom
Summary
At a May 15 board meeting, Keller ISD administrators outlined rising budget pressures, proposed staffing reductions and uncertainty tied to the Texas Legislature’s HB2—saying the Senate substitute raises limited local discretion and could make the district’s fiscal future more difficult.
KELLER, Texas — Keller ISD officials told trustees at their May 15 meeting that the district faces a difficult budget year, citing declining enrollment, lagging state and federal funding and uncertainty over House Bill 2’s final form.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Wilson said the House version of HB2 would have sent about $16.2 million to Keller ISD — mostly through an increased basic allotment usable at the district’s discretion — but the Senate committee substitute released the same day narrowed local control and directed large sums into designated uses.
"If the senate's version of HB2 passes, Keller ISD will, for all intents and purposes, have an even more challenging budgetary future than we currently have," Dr. Wilson said, warning that the Senate language could increase district costs to implement teacher raises and associated benefits without providing corresponding flexibility. "The rest of the money... they may not spend it in any other way than how the senate tells us this is how you must spend that money."
John Allison, the district’s chief financial officer, outlined operational pressures that make monthly snapshots misleading: "On April 30 we still have three months of payroll, three plus months of transportation and utilities — those bills lag," he said, explaining why reported expenditures appear below budget at that date. Allison also said capital projects such as roofing require bond funding, not maintenance and operations dollars.
Trustees heard staffing and enrollment projections the district is using to balance next year’s budget: Allison said planners are working from an estimated 450‑student enrollment decline and an average daily attendance assumption near 94% and that the district has identified roughly $6.5 million in staffing reductions so far. He said a 1% across‑the‑board staff raise would cost about $3 million; the district has a target of raising total compensation roughly in the $12 million range if additional funding materializes.
Administrators described other unknowns that could change projections, including certified property values from the Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD), insurance renewal rates and the timing of federal grant disbursements. Allison said the district must build a proposed budget before July 1 under state law but that key inputs remain unsettled.
District leaders also discussed programmatic changes intended to reduce costs while preserving services: the administration is relocating 45 classrooms previously housed in learning centers back into 19 elementary campuses and restructuring some intervention and ESL delivery to embed services in classrooms — changes administrators said would realize savings without eliminating services.
Dr. Wilson and Allison urged continued advocacy at the Capitol, encouraged community input and said the board will likely need to meet again before its regular June session to act on budget updates.
What’s next: Keller ISD must adopt a proposed budget for public posting before July 1 and a final budget by that statutory deadline; administrators said they will return with refined numbers after TAD values and insurance renewals are known.
