Eagle Mountain-Saginaw school leaders want a balanced budget by 2029 but, for now, they face a $16 million shortfall.
In unanimous decisions Aug. 25, trustees approved maintaining the northwest Fort Worth district’s property tax rate at $1.2457 per $100 of valuation and signed off on a $286.5 million general fund budget.
The shortfall cannot remain, Superintendent Jerry Hollingsworth told trustees.
“That’s not sustainable,” he said.
Hollingsworth envisions cutting the shortfall by $4 million chunks over the next four years.
But achieving a balanced budget does not necessarily mean just cuts, Deputy Superintendent Walter Berringer said. The nearly 24,000-student district can raise its attendance rates and lure back students whose families opted for another school choice, he said.
“Prodigal sons and daughters are always welcome home,” Berringer said.
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD is one of Tarrant County’s fastest-growing school systems. However, 2,806 students transferred outside of the district last school year, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Texas funnels state money to public schools largely based on how many children show up for classes. The basic per-student funding starts at $6,215, a $55 bump from last year. State lawmakers increased that along with other funding — such as for safety, teacher pay and basic needs — when they approved $8.5 billion for public schools.
Marilyn Tolbert, school board president, said she wished the Legislature further increased public education funding so districts could adequately take care of their needs.
The state’s teacher raises are great, but they do not cover all educators who help students in the classroom, she said as an example. About 100 employees did not qualify, so Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD must pay for that without state help.
“One of the things the state could do is just fund us appropriately, and then we could allocate it appropriately to our staff,” Hollingsworth said.
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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