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At the Board of Trustees Special Meeting last night, Trustees voted to approve three separate resolutions to address the district’s $35 million budget shortfall for the 2024-25 school year.
The resolutions target Phase I and Phase II budget considerations presented by district administration and discussed over a series of board meetings this fall.
Beginning with the 2024-25 school year, the approved resolutions call for the discontinuation of the related lease and closure of the Panda Path School for Early Learning; closure of Treasure Forest Elementary; and discontinuation of the SKY partnership, a three-way partnership between SBISD and two public charter school programs – YES Prep Public Schools and KIPP Texas, Inc. (Read our news release here.)
Together, these budget reduction measures amount to a projected $8.8 million in annual savings. Resolutions approved by the Board of Trustees on November 6, 2023, totaling $2.9 million in annual savings, include changing the staffing ratios for high schools, aligning high school schedules, increasing Pre-K tuition; adjusting Pre-K Center boundaries, and pausing the bond program for the four remaining 2017 Bond Program elementary school rebuilds.
In another budget reduction action not requiring the vote of the Board, the district’s SPIRAL gifted and talented program for third through fifth grade students will be redesigned, with annual projected savings of $762,744.
Further budget decreases of approximately $23 million to close the remaining budget gap for the 2024-25 school year will largely come from central office personnel reductions. These will be reflected in the district’s budget presented to the board next spring in alignment with the district’s budget calendar.
Our Board of Trustees and administration take very seriously what closing schools and ending long-standing programs means for our students, families, staff and community. These are decisions we had hoped we would not have to make.
As we have repeatedly reminded our community, the blame lies squarely with our state leaders and elected officials who have failed the children of Texas and SBISD. We find it reprehensible that Governor Abbott has willfully chosen to neglect 5.5 million Texas public school students and educators while sitting on the largest budget surplus ($33 billion) in state history.
We also remain angry and disappointed that throughout the 88th Legislative Session and four subsequent special sessions, individuals elected to represent us could not pass a single piece of legislation to provide much needed funding for our public schools. That’s ZERO new money for SBISD since 2019, while our costs have escalated due to double-digit inflation.
We have been thoughtful in the development of the district’s budget reduction plan to ensure we do all we can to sustain resources that positively impact all 33,500 SBISD students. We are committed to maintaining excellent academic and extracurricular experiences that our students need and deserve, and our community expects.
One thing is for sure. We will not let the leaders in Austin take us down. The harder they try to destroy public education, the harder we will work to make sure our students continue to succeed at the very highest levels and SBISD remains a destination district for families and educators, even if we have to do things differently.
Our Collective Greatness is what sets the SBISD community apart. We will get through this difficult time, together.
We thank our community for your advocacy both for SBISD at the state level, and for your students, schools and programs through your emails and at all of our recent board meetings. You have all demonstrated democracy in action, and we appreciate your outreach. Please know that your voices have been heard and your feedback has been taken into consideration very seriously, even if the vote has not gone as you had hoped.
Families and staff of Panda Path, Treasure Forest Elementary and the SKY Partnership programs impacted by decisions voted on last night will receive separate messaging today with information about next steps for their communities.
Families interested in applying for SBISD Choice Programs (Dual Language, Westchester Academy for International Studies, Cornerstone Academy) for the 2024-25 school year should note that the SBISD Choice Lottery will open on Friday, Dec. 15 and remain open until Feb. 2. More information will be sent via email and on social media in the days ahead.
Please continue to monitor our Closing the Budget Gap webpage where community messages, presentations and other related information are housed. SBISD also continues the 88th Legislative Session webpage where information and advocacy information will be posted should a fifth Special Session be called.
With appreciation and gratitude to the entire SBISD Family as we have navigated through these past few challenging months for our district. |
