AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- More tough times are ahead for the Austin Independent School District, with district officials staring down an increasing budget deficit now projected at $181 million for the upcoming 2026-27 school year.
Superintendent Matias Segura cautioned trustees that while the district has historically attempted to shield students from financial instability, the scale of the current crisis means cuts will now inevitably impact classrooms and daily campus operations.
The district is already planning to shutter 10 campuses this summer to offset $21.5 million in costs. Despite cutting $70 million from the current budget, AISD expects to end the current fiscal year with a nearly $50 million deficit, fueled by lower property tax revenue and a delay in the sale of the Rosedale property.
Segura indicated that the number of personnel cuts being considered would need to be large enough to fundamentally move the budget, suggesting that community members should prepare for the loss of familiar staff members.
“We’ve had limited impact to our students,” Segura said. “We’re no longer able to protect those cuts from impacting our classrooms.”
To address the gap, the district is weighing a series of drastic reductions including $40.9 million in department positions, $16 million from secondary planning periods, and $6 million from elementary art, music, and physical education programs.
Officials are also looking at a $5.7 million reduction in special education teacher stipends and $2 million in cuts to librarians.
In order to achieve a fully balanced budget, the district would need to slash a total of $129 million from campus spending and $52 million from administrative costs.
The district’s financial health has been steadily eroded by a decade of enrollment declines, with the student population plunging from over 86,000 in 2011 to fewer than 70,000 today. Families moving to more affordable suburbs and federal immigration actions have contributed to a loss of 3,000 students in the last year alone, which directly reduces the state funding the district receives.
Board President Lynn Boswell expressed concern regarding current enrollment projections, noting that closures and boundary changes often create further uncertainty for families.
CFO Katrina Montgomery described the painful measures as a necessary step in righting a system that has been imbalanced for years.
While the district expects to sell its Brooke property this summer to provide some relief, the bulk of the savings must come from internal restructuring.
District officials are scheduled to present a formal draft budget to the school board on April 23, with a final vote on the spending plan set for June 18.
