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Crowley ISD budget outlook shows multi‑million shortfall; parent urges multiyear plan and transparency
Summary
District finance staff presented FY25–26 status and FY26–27 preliminary projections showing a potential multi‑million deficit if a pending land sale does not close; a parent who reviewed the numbers urged the board to adopt a multiyear plan and a public budget dashboard to protect classrooms.
Crowley ISD finance staff told trustees the district faces a material budget gap in next year’s projection unless a pending real‑estate sale closes. “Without the real estate transaction…we would be presenting approximately a $9,600,000 dollar deficit, which would reduce our fund balance to approximately 9%,” the district presenter said during the board’s budget overview.
At the start of public comment, Dr. Liz Pinon, a parent and resident, told the board she had reviewed the FY25–26 results and the 26–27 estimates and warned the shortfall is structural, not a one‑year problem. “Set aside the one‑time land sale…we're running roughly a $10,000,000 annual operating deficit under projections that assume no raises, no inflation, no enrollment,” she said, and asked the board to direct administration to present a multiyear plan that does not depend on uncertain land transfers.
Mr. Fisher, the district presenter, framed the budget discussion around conservative revenue assumptions and aggressive expense estimates intended to protect classroom programs. He described the district’s practice of showing best and worst case scenarios and said the board uses fund balance strategically; in one scenario he showed fund balance near 13%–19% depending on assumptions. Trustees pressed staff on the composition of expenditures—instruction accounts for about 58% of district spending—and on revenue pressures created by local homestead exemptions and recent state legislative changes.
Several trustees and the superintendent emphasized the limited local options to raise additional revenue and urged collective advocacy to state lawmakers. Trustee June W. Davis noted longer‑term effects of state policy, saying the district has spent recent years “playing catch up,” and encouraged using the district’s voice to press legislators for adequate school funding. The board did not take an immediate action on the budget at this meeting; staff said they will return with additional detail and recommended next steps.
