Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD administrators had one goal as they pored over the district’s next budget: protect classrooms.
The directive from Superintendent Jim Chadwell was needed as the preliminary budget for the 2024-25 school year showed a nearly $16.5 million deficit. Administrators recently updated the school board on the next iteration of the district’s budget.
Board Secretary Steven Newcom looked at the budget presentation. He pointed out spending in both staff development and instructional leadership is lower than the 2023-24 budget.
“We trust that’s not going to affect the kids,” Newcom said to Chadwell.
The superintendent assured Newcom and trustees that students should not be affected.
For the new school year, student-teacher ratios remained steady. Instructional spending increased $3.8 million, Chadwell said, because of the district’s growth.
“That was the goal as we developed the plan on the deficit and the effect on staff in this building was felt a lot more strongly,” Chadwell said, sitting inside the administrative building. “We tried to protect the classroom as much as possible.”
“We appreciate that,” Newcom responded.
“Yes, we do,” board President Marilyn Tolbert said.
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD expects to spend $261.6 million during the new school year — about $9.8 million more than in the 2023-24 budget.
General fund revenue is expected to be $245 million, leaving a deficit.
Administrators plan to dip into the district’s $68 million in reserves to cover the shortfall. The reserves are projected to dip to $57 million, enough to cover 80 operating days.
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD’s situation is far from ideal, Tolbert said.
“We’d like the state to step in and do something,” she said. “But we’ll keep waiting.”
In a unanimous decision, trustees agreed to discuss the budget and proposed tax rate for the 2024-25 school year at 7 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Central Administrative Building, 1600 Mustang Rock Road.
Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
