WESLACO ISD budget workshop: administration projects $13M shortfall for 2025–26; trustees demand options

At the March 30 budget workshop, district budget staff said the most recent state allotment update and a decline in average daily attendance produced a revised year‑end projection that could leave the district roughly $13 million in deficit for 2025–26.

The budget presenter summarized: "a projected deficit of 13,000,000 at the end of the year." Staff described contributing factors that include lower ADA than budgeted, a TEA restructuring of census‑block weights that reduced state compensatory funding (the presenter cited roughly $1.6M attributable to that change), and the rising insurance claim trend discussed earlier in the workshop.

Trustees asked for scenario analyses that show a range of mitigation options from least to most severe (multi‑year hiring and expenditure plans, revenue maximization, asset sales). Budget staff listed potential offsetting revenues such as property sales, maximizing ADA, interest on fund balance, grant pursuit and liquidated damages from construction contracts. The presenter said the administration will bring more in‑depth options to the next workshops and proposed amendments to the budget to reflect updated TEA numbers in April.

No board vote was taken; trustees directed administration to return with concrete plan‑of‑action options and the specific vendor materials that undergird the insurance recommendations.