Richardson ISD previews 2026–27 budget; reports $200 million bond sale and warns of debt-service constraints

At its May 14 work session, the Richardson ISD board received a final look at the 2026–27 budget before the June 4 adoption meeting and an update on recent bond-market activity.

Finance staff reported a successful first sale under Bond 2025: "$200,000,000 worth of bonds" were sold, the presenter said, and the district has roughly $1.2 billion remaining authorized to issue under the 2025 bond program. The presenter warned that new state rules adopted during the 89th legislative session can reduce hold-harmless state funding on the debt-service side when tax collections plus state funding exceed scheduled debt service payments, complicating timing of future sales.

On the Child Nutrition Fund, staff proposed a 2% raise for professional staff and 3% for paraprofessionals and said student meal prices remain unchanged (breakfast $2.10; elementary lunch $3.05; secondary lunch $3.20). Staff also noted an estimated federal reimbursement increase (roughly $0.09 for breakfast and $0.17 for lunch) that improved the child-nutrition revenue forecast.

The budget presentation included a multiyear forecast that assumes flat-to-modest property-value growth and enrollment declines the district's demographer projected (current enrollment ~35,520; forecast ~35,704 for 2027 and further declines thereafter). Staff said the district remains AAA/AA+ rated by Moody’s and S&P and described strategies—more frequent, smaller bond sales and refundings—to manage cash flow and debt-service timing in the current state funding environment.

Trustees asked detailed questions about projections, the effect of vouchers and the trade-offs involved in marketing investments to recruit students.