Community Budget Committee Makes Recommendations

December 12, 2024

The RISD Community Budget Steering Committee (CBSC) – a group of parents, community members and campus educators – presented budget recommendations on Dec. 12 to RISD trustees about options the district should consider to maximize efficient operations and revenue. The recommendations this week were an extension of the committee’s work and recommendations from last year.

Recommendations
The CBSC recommended RISD focus on four major areas in upcoming budget planning:

RISD should consider placing a voter-approved tax rate election on the ballot in 2025 to increase RISD’s operating tax rate by 3.17 cents. If approved by voters, it would generate about $7.4 million in operating revenue for the district. RISD’s current tax rate for the maintenance and operations portion of the budget is 75.52 cents – the lowest rate in 40 years.
The district should consider a change in policy to become an open enrollment district – meaning, allowing families outside of RISD boundaries an opportunity to attend RISD schools with excess capacity. Some districts bordering RISD have been doing this for years as a way to supplement enrollment. The committee recommended RISD approach the idea cautiously – both prioritizing families who live in RISD and also making enrollment of interdistrict families contingent on expectations surrounding behavior and academics.
RISD should increase family choice through two primary paths: First, reimagining the current magnet school offerings to ensure they are dynamic and relevant, and align with RISD parent wishes and expectations. Second, create additional school choice options for families, offering programming to meet parent interest and demand, such as international baccalaureate or montessori, for example.
The committee recommended that RISD study the possibility of changing RISD’s secondary scheduling model, and whether the benefits of the current A/B day double block model offsets the higher staffing costs.

These recommendations will help inform 2025-26 budget planning discussions that trustees will begin early next year. No decisions have been made and each item will be presented and discussed in 2025 leading up to a budget adoption in June.

Background
The CBSC was commissioned by RISD trustees at the conclusion of the 2023-24 budget process to study RISD’s financial and operating metrics and arrive at recommendations to inform the 2024-25 budget.

The committee’s December, 2023 recommendations touched nine areas, with trustees eventually taking action on three of the nine, including deeper cuts to central and support operations, and the comprehensive elementary campus and facility consolidation plan eventually known as Project RightSize.

The committee again met this fall, reviewing updated district information and metrics, including the continued projected financial challenges for 2025-26:

Like many school districts, RISD’s enrollment declined during the pandemic and has not rebounded. Enrollment is projected to continue to decline due to lower birth rates and other factors – a trend across Texas and the region. In Texas, the number of students enrolled primarily equates to school funding from the state, so fewer students means fewer resources, and more students means more resources.
Inflation has risen 18% since the pandemic, with some sectors that impact RISD’s costs, like property insurance, increasing at even higher rates.
During the years of rising costs, the state of Texas has not increased per-pupil funding in the basic student allotment – the last time that happened was 2019. An unknown factor is whether the state will finally increase per-pupil funding in the upcoming legislative session that begins in January, 2025.
RISD’s location in the highly competitive North Texas market, coupled with high consumer inflation, has increased wages for talented teachers and staff.
There are substantial gaps between the cost for RISD to deliver services, and the funding that Texas provides for those services – specifically in areas like special education, school safety & security, Pre-Kindergarten, student transportation, gifted services, and dyslexia services.
The continued cuts to central and support services and the Project RightSize campus consolidation plan were major, necessary steps. However, if RISD is going to operate efficiently and provide strong academic growth for all students, led by outstanding, experienced educators, then all possible options should be considered.

All RISD stakeholders are encouraged to follow the 2025-26 budget planning process. Trustee meetings, presentations and discussions will continue to be available through www.risd.org, and summaries will be published through district channels.