Uncertainty looms over Fort Worth-area school districts’ next budgets.
They’re waiting to see how the Texas Legislature shakes out and whether lawmakers tap into the state’s $24 billion surplus to boost public education funding.
Closer to home, the Tarrant Appraisal District board is adjusting its reappraisal plan, a move that could lower school property tax revenue.
Regardless of the outcomes, school district leaders say they’re preparing for the worst-case scenario as they assemble their budgets for the 2025-26 academic year.
Ambiguity typically surrounds school budgets, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD Superintendent Jerry Hollingsworth said. Revenue is a blurry picture. So are expenditures, especially for a fast-growth district like Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD.
Without any additional state dollars, Hollingsworth’s school district in northwest Fort Worth likely will see a $16 million deficit.
And cuts.
Again.
“Whether it’s at your house or if it’s in a school district, that’s not sustainable over the long haul,” Hollingsworth told the Fort Worth Report.
‘Tough choices’
Fort Worth ISD is working toward a balanced budget, Chief Financial Officer Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria said. District leaders aren’t betting on legislators increasing public education dollars.
“The last time we were anticipating some additional funding and it did not materialize, we had to pivot and make some tough choices,” Arrieta-Candelaria said.
The Legislature last increased per-student spending in 2019 when House Bill 3 infused nearly $12 billion into school districts across the state.
In 2023, lawmakers and Gov. Greg Abbott agreed to a bump in education funding. The increase did not materialize over a disagreement between the Texas House and the governor.
Abbott tied public school funding to the expansion of private school choice through a voucherlike program called education savings accounts. A coalition of rural Republicans joined with Democrats to torpedo the governor’s priority in a move that they saw as protecting traditional public schools.
Now, Abbott likely has enough votes in the House to establish an education savings account program — and he has reiterated his commitment to boosting public K-12 school funding.
The Senate passed an education savings account bill Feb. 5.
School districts need an increase in per-student funding to cover rising costs, Fort Worth-area school district leaders told the Report.
Texas funds public schools based on the number of students who attend classes every day. Districts receive $6,160 for each student.
Without additional state dollars, all options are on the table for cuts, Arrieta-Candelaria said.
‘We’re running out of areas to cut’
Keller ISD is considering splitting in two as a way to deal with an almost insurmountable financial situation, according to several school board members.
The district faces a $9.4 million deficit for the 2025-26 school year. Administrators are looking at cuts to deliver a balanced budget, Keller ISD Chief Operating Officer John Allison said.
Rising costs and stagnant state revenue have already forced Keller ISD to cut more than $45 million over the past two budgets, Allison said.
“We’re in a place where we’re running out of areas to cut that won’t have a significant impact on students’ educational experiences,” Allison said.
In Northwest ISD, administrators are grappling with an unpredictable budget process that leaves them waiting on lawmakers before making key financial decisions.
“We can’t make a lot of decisions until we know what they’re going to do,” Jonathan Pastusek, the district’s chief financial officer, told trustees Feb. 10. “Trying to project revenue is kind of an impossible task until we know the rules of the game we’re playing.”
‘The TAD issue’
School districts like Northwest ISD finalize their budgets by July 1, yet certified property values are not released until July 25. This lag forces district leaders to make financial projections based on incomplete information.
Northwest ISD’s uncertainty is complicated further by its span into three counties: Tarrant, Denton and Wise.
In July 2024, the Tarrant Appraisal District changed annual reappraisals to a two-year cycle.
A key issue for Northwest ISD is whether appraisals from previous years will be frozen, impacting how school districts project property tax revenue. District leaders are uncertain whether values will be adjusted.
“With the TAD issue, knowing whether we’re going to be frozen on that issue, that has an effect,” Pastusek said. “So a lot of these things come into play, and that’s why revenue is so tough to project.”
The Fort Worth ISD school board will consider adopting a resolution asking the Tarrant Appraisal District to ask for a reappraisal of properties within the school district, Arrieta-Candelaria said.
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD won’t be as affected from the reappraisal plan during its next budget. Eventually, though, the district will feel the pinch, Hollingsworth and Chief Financial Officer Robb Welch said.
“While we may not see as much of an effect in this coming year, it’s really about what’s going to happen down the line for us specifically,” Welch said.
‘Do the best we can for students’
During a Feb. 13 school board meeting, Crowley ISD trustee June Davis said she has heard people talk about what they view as the poor state of public schools and they believe, as a consequence, the state should withhold funding and create a voucher program.
Yet, she said, that same money could help improve schools.
“We haven’t had a raise (in state funding) since 2019. But we’re still trying to do the best we can for students with a budget from 2019. You can’t even run your household budget based on what you did in 2019,” Davis said.
Administrators across the Fort Worth area have their wish list for lawmakers, but are bracing for more cuts.
As they wait to see what happens in the Legislature, districts will continue to play the “guessing game” of the Texas public school budgeting process, Allison said.
Jacob Sanchez is a senior education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
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
