Brittany Kelley
KYLE — The Hays CISD Board of Trustees continued its discussion on its fiscal year 2025-26 budget at the June 10 meeting.
Beginning with updated numbers for compensation, Hays CISD Human Resources Director Christina Courson stated that there are 3,185 employees that are locally funded, while 415 are funded by other resources.
“From that, when you take out administrators — because administrators were not included in the legislation — and you take out teachers three plus years — because they are provided for directly in this legislation — what we’re really looking at is how can we take care of the other 1,711 with the $1,035,000 that the legislature provided. That is what they have given Hays CISD to work with to take care of our fast-growth school district,” said Courson.
What was not accounted for at the June 4 special meeting when considering numbers was the need to remove 20% from the $1,035,000 to offset the increases that correspond in Teacher Retirement System (TRS) Active Care, workers compensation and in all the benefits that cost more as the compensation rises, said Courson. This leaves the district with 80% of the million from the legislature, amounting to $828,000.
Dividing this new number by the 1,711 teachers that the district is attempting to give raises equates to a fixed $483.92 annual increase.
“Alternatively, we could consider a 1% increase. To do a 1% increase for all staff, that would be $1,900,000. From this figure, we extracted what it would cost — how much of that would have been — 1% for teachers three plus [years] because they’re provided for [in the legislation]. We figured out that number [and] we pulled it out and that gave us a $1,049,145 local impact,” said Courson.
The options are essentially, she continued, is the number divided equally amongst those not supported by the legislation or will they go through with a straight percentage.
Courson noted that she shared varying alternatives, to trustees Esperanza Orosco and Geoff Seibel’s question, of varying percentages, such as 0.75% or 0.5% over email.
Ultimately, the administration is recommending the fixed $483.92 because each individual, regardless of which pay scale they’re on, will get an equal amount, taking the philosophical approach that each staff member contributes to the success of students: “It’s an approach that provides those staff that are on a lower pay scale in our compensation plan actually a higher payment than they would receive if we did, say, a one percent across the board,” Courson stated.
This was also recommended because of the shrinking resources from the state, along with the $39 increase in health insurance cost that the district would have to pay, which would cost $1,263,600.
“[I keep] repeating this over and over because I want people to remember exactly why we are in this position. We are in this position because this is what the legislature has provided Hays CISD,” stressed Courson.
She explained that she reached out to other chief finance officers (CFO) within the region, to which one that participates in TRS Active Care stated that they will not be providing the increase for the staff because of a similar position, where they cannot afford it.
Three other CFOs stated that they will also not be providing any increases for staff members.
“For this reason, we really want to be protective of our budget, we want to protect the people, we want to protect our ability to protect the students, we want to protect the district. So, for that reason, we want to recommend the $483.92 increase for [applicable] employees,” Courson said.
Courson also stated that the recommendation includes the employee paying the $39 increase, rather than the district, though this would still require Hays CISD to find $294,284 in cuts to maintain its current contribution to health insurance.
“We have to — I told you guys the other night — draw a line in the sand,” said Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright. “That’s one thing I love about you guys as a board: y’all love our employees. I love them, too, and I wish we could do a lot more, but we just can’t do anymore and sustain our school district.”
Wright noted that the insurance will be a “one year hit” because the district will be looking into self-funded insurance or creating a partnership with other districts to “hopefully put more money on the general side.”
Trustee Vanessa Petrea began the discussion, stating that she agrees with the philosophy that everyone that works in the district impacts the students, so she feels as though the fixed increase emphasizes this.
“I hate that we can’t do more for our employees, both on the salary side and the insurance side. I know that’s going to be a gut punch,” said Petrea.
Echoing similar sentiments were trustees Courtney Runkle and Johnny Flores.
“Quite frankly this is infuriating for everybody because I know there are holes that we need to plug from years past that we’ve been looking at for years. For every hole that we plug, another one is going to open up and that is just frustrating to deal with,” said Seibel.
Orosco concluded her statements by emphasizing that she hopes there will be a sense of urgency in community members to vote to prevent these decisions from having to occur.
The board unanimously was in favor of the fixed increase, but will not take an official vote until the June 24 meeting.
To listen to the discussion, visit bit.ly/43ZGEkL.
