KYLE — Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programming at five out of 17 elementary schools within Hays CISD could soon be impacted, as the district awaits a funding decision from the Texas Legislature for the upcoming school year.
School funding formula
Public schools within the state of Texas have been without an increase in the basic funding formula since 2019 — before the significant post- COVID-19 pandemic inflation surge — said Hays CISD Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright in a letter to parents April 22. The district is looking at a $13.5 million deficit for the 2025-26 school year if there is not an increase from the state; however, if the current funding proposal, House Bill 2, passes the legislature, then Hays CISD may only need to cut approximately $3 million to balance the budget. Proposed HB 2 would increase the allotment by $220 for a total of $6,380 per student.
School funding is decided through a predetermined amount set aside for each student. According to District 45 Texas State Rep. Erin Zwiener during a March 25 legislative luncheon, the formula states that each student will award the school $6,160 — determined in 2019 — with caveats for those who may require more funding to educate, such as those in special education or English language learners, and there are modifiers for some districts where costs are more expensive.
This amount of money is pulled from the percentage of property taxes to fund schools and, if the total does not reach the predetermined amount based on student enrollment, the state will fill in the gap, while, vice versa, if there is too much funding, the districts must send the state money back, as previously reported by the Hays Free Press.
“For the school districts to get more money, we at the state have to change the formula, so the most important thing we can do is increase that base number per student. We call it the basic allotment. It’s about $6,100 right now. We believe it should go up between $1,000 to $1,500, just to keep up with inflation,” said Zwiener.
“We haven't had an increase in our basic allotment funding from the legislature since 2019 and it’s not just Hays CISD that’s in that situation, it’s all across the state. We've been using fund balance through the years to kind of keep things afloat, hoping that they would come together with the funding. It looks like now the prevailing funding formula, if they go with the House version, which we think they will, then that's going to actually bring some relief to the districts, but not quite enough to make up for the shortages that have accumulated post-2019 with all the inflation that we've seen since the pandemic,” said Tim Savoy, chief communication officer for Hays CISD.
Despite the potential $3 million deficit, Savoy stated that the district may still have to cut in the upcoming school year: “It's not as bad as it could have been, but it still doesn't leave school districts, including ours, with good choices. We still make some tough choices.”
Hays CISD specials and STEM programs
As the funding that Hays CISD will receive from the state is uncertain, the district’s administration has been looking at ways to prepare ahead of its budget season. This includes the possibility of scaling back some of the programming options offered at elementary campuses.
At the elementary schools, there are programs called “specials” that are outside of the regular classroom activities; typically, each campus has three specials on rotation — art, music and physical education (PE) — because that is enough to accommodate the number of students in the largest grade-level on campus, Wright explained. Then, sometimes, there are grade levels that will exceed 110 students, which requires the district to add a fourth special to the campus, so there is enough room for all of the students — that fourth special at some of the campuses has been a STEM class that meets once every seven to nine days.
The district is needing to take a more conservative approach on staffing, due to the $3 million deficit minimum, Savoy explained, which has led Hays CISD to consider not having the fourth special, including STEM. It’s not a change in any policy or procedure that the district follows, rather it’s “just adhering to what's on the books because we don't have that extra flexibility left given the amount of cuts that we're going to have to make to get a balanced budget,” Savoy said.
In previous years, the district has been able to keep a fourth special at elementary campuses, even when the largest grade level fell below 110 students. However, according to Wright, that is something “we will likely not be able to afford as we try to prepare next year’s staffing levels in a more conservative manner.”
The district assures that STEM material will still be taught in the core classrooms and STEM student clubs will also be offered, but it won’t necessarily have a STEM special at five of the 17 elementary schools, including: Buda, Carpenter Hill, Elm Grove, Hemphill and Kyle elementary schools. Not all of the campuses are going to be impacted, as only a few are predicted to have grade levels that reach above the 110-student limit, said Savoy.
“Because of those rotations, they have the STEM, or [Science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM)] classes about 21 times in a year as a separate pull-out class. So, the district definitely wants to make sure that our students continue to have access to that amazing learning and the good news is that they'll be able to get it. It just won't be in a pull-out class,” explained Hays CISD Chief Human Resources Director Christina Courson. “When you think about science and technology and all the things that go into it, we're able to fold those lessons … They have an art and music special. They have science. They have the ability to access technology during the class and learn how to use it responsibly. So, those things will still continue. It will just look differently for the time period. Also, some of the campuses may do some clubs that are STEAM- or STEM-related and so, there's definitely going to be opportunities for students to continue those learning experiences. It just won't be in a pull-out class 21 times a year.”
Staffing
The district’s primary goal and concern when considering cuts is the welfare of the staff. Since approximately 87% of Hays CISD’s annual operating budget is the cost of employee salaries and benefits, Wright shared that component is often the first place the district looks when needing to make significant budget cuts.
Approximately a dozen people will be affected by a change in their current roles — including the specials teachers who will be redirected back to the regular classroom — but, under the funding levels Hays CISD believes will be passed in the legislature, the district does not have to consider laying off staff and no employee will be left without a job.
“It’s the people that make the magic happen for us. There's not a lot of room to cut a significant amount of money if you don't touch cutting staff members. We went into it, and are continuing to go through, this budgeting process with that in mind. We're going to be able to do that — not have any staff layoffs — if the full legislature passes and the governor signs the funding bill,” Savoy stated.
Nobody within the Hays CISD community — teachers, students, parents and other staff — wants to see any kind of budget cuts happen, Savoy said; however, this is just a matter of trying to manage the option that would leave the least amount of damage on the educational process.
“Our main goal in all of this is that we don't want to have to tell somebody, ‘You don't have a job,’ because that's the worst-case scenario. We have 3,500 employees. Every single person who works for the district makes a contribution that benefits the kids. We don't have any positions that don't do that now. They're positions, obviously, like classroom teachers, that are much more closely connected on a daily basis with the kids, but we still have people – bus drivers, custodians [and more] — that support the campuses,” Savoy said. “We've got people in payroll who make sure our teachers get paid, purchasing who make sure that we get all of the supplies that are needed for the classrooms and all that, but everything in our district goes back to the classroom.”
Additionally, the specials teachers currently do not qualify for the Teacher Incentive Allotment, established in HB 3 by the 86th Texas Legislature in June 2019, which has a stated goal of a six-figure salary for teachers who prioritize teaching in high-needs areas and rural district campuses, according to Hays CISD’s website. This would change, though, if those specials teachers are redirected back to the regular classroom, which would allow them to make tens of thousands of dollars more if they wanted to go through that process, Savoy said.
Next steps
Hays CISD’s budget preparations for the 2025-26 school year by the board of trustees and administration will finish at the end of June to have a budget in place for the fiscal year, which starts July 1. According to the district, there will be a more definitive answer by that point regarding how much funding Hays CISD will receive from the state.
“It's early summer for most everybody, but for those who want to follow along the budgeting process, from really about right now up through the end of June is going to be the topic that is one of the main topics you're going to see at the board [of trustees meetings]. Really, in May is when they’ll get more into it because that’s when we're going to know specifically how much we're going to see in funding,” Savoy said.
On April 10, HB 2 was voted out of the House Committee on Public Education with a vote of 13 ayes and two nays, according to the Texas Legislature website, and then, it passed the House. It goes to the Senate Committee next.
The Texas Legislature’s final day of regular session is June 2 and, while there is a chance that there could be a special session, Savoy said the district hasn’t heard any conversation on that.
“I pledge to you that at the soonest possible date in which we are better funded, we will work to restore the cuts we have had to make this year — beginning with the STEM ‘specials’ at our elementary campuses,” Wright concluded.
To follow HB 2 in the 89th Texas Legislature, visit bit.ly/4lUGHXd.
