Denton ISD leaders make no bones about Proposition A, the sole school district item on a beefy Nov. 4 ballot: It’s a 5-cent tax rate increase.
Denton ISD Superintendent Susannah O’Bara and Deputy Superintendent Jeremy Thompson, who oversees the district’s financial operations, were just as plain about the reason for taking the tax hike to voters: The district has already “pulled the other levers” to cut their expenses over three years of deficit budgets. This school year, Denton ISD is operating with a $15 million budget deficit.
It’s left 250 positions open. As teachers and administrators have retired or left the district, their jobs have gone unfilled. Some departments have been restructured, shuffling teachers and administrators into different posts, and most full-time district employees have made room on their plates for more tasks.
The district has also increased class sizes. Two years ago, the district got 33 waivers from the state to bump up the number of elementary school students in classes on some campuses. This year, the district already has 74 waivers. Texas schools don’t need waivers to increase class size at middle and high schools.
The school board voted to put the first tax ratification election on the ballot since 2017.
The proposition
Proposition A asks voters to ratify “the ad valorem tax rate of $1.2069 per $100 valuation in the Denton Independent School District for the current year, a rate that will result in an increase of 13.33 percent in maintenance and operations tax revenue for the District for the current year as compared to the preceding year, which is an additional $28,830,352.”
To put it more plainly: Denton ISD’s current tax rate is $1.1569 per $100 property valuation. With a 5-cent tax increase, the rate would be $1.2069 per $100 assessed property valuation.
Understanding the buckets
Texas public school funding requires districts to use two “buckets” for monies.
There’s a maintenance and operations bucket that covers the costs of teacher salaries, classroom supplies, utilities and transportation.
There’s an interest and sinking bucket for debt service, which districts use to pay for capital expenses and land, construction and renovations, technology and new buses. This bucket mirrors the typical homeowner mortgage, paying off long-term expenses. Districts can’t co-mingle funds between the buckets.
Texas law gives school districts two tiers of funding in their maintenance and operations budgets. Tier 1 is decided by Texas Education Agency, and the maximum compressed rate is 63.22 cents for the 2025 tax year. Tier 2 gives districts up to an additional 17 cents, but only if voters consent.
Denton ISD’s Tier 2 rate is among the lowest among neighboring districts, standing at 6 cents. Celina ISD’s and Ponder ISD’s Tier 2 rate is 17 cents. The Aubrey and Krum districts both have their Tier 2 rates at 13.83 cents.
According to Denton ISD, approval of Proposition A would put $26 million into the maintenance and operations budget.
The interest and sinking bucket was most recently replenished by the billion-dollar bond elections that voters passed in 2023.
O’Bara said school finance isn’t easy to understand, and she’s seen and heard a fair number of misunderstandings about Prop A.
One of the things that we keep being asked and seeing online is “if you didn’t have these nice new buildings or these facilities, you wouldn’t have a deficit,” O’Bara said. “In fact, our voters ask for these buildings. Reeves Elementary, for example. That was in the ’23 bond. Our voters approved it. We had to build that building based on what we communicated in the bond that was approved.”
The 88th Texas Legislature met in 2023 and passed several mandates it either didn’t fund or partially funded. House Bill 3 was a banner mandate, requiring armed safety officers on every public school campus, but only covering part of the cost.
The Legislature closed in 2023 without increasing the basic allotment, which provides per-student funding for school districts. That left districts, including Denton ISD, tapping their savings to give teachers raises.
“We couldn’t use the money that was generated for the ’23 bond to pay teachers,” O’Bara said. “We can’t commingle those funds, so that’s a complete misunderstanding on people’s part.”
How new funding would be prioritized?
If voters pass the measure, bringing $26 million in new revenue each year, the funds will serve three principal areas. The district would put $16 million into teacher salaries, $5 million into safety and security, and the remaining $5 million into programs and enrichment for students.
Denton ISD is the second largest employer in Denton County, with 4,854 full-time employees reporting for duty on 47 campuses.
O’Bara said the ratification election could make the district more competitive for teachers. Right now, Denton ISD’s starting salary is $60,500, which makes the district less attractive than Arlington ISD, which pays $66,100, or McKinney ISD, which offers a starting salary of $63,500.
While Denton ISD has an armed school safety officer or school resource officer on every campus, there is a shortage of such officers across the state. If passed, the measure would keep the district competitive for officers in the future.
The measure would also allow the district to hire the specialists it lost by freezing positions, including reading recovery and bilingual specialists and content interventionists who help students who are struggling to perform at grade level. Some campuses don’t have support in those areas as the remaining staff travels between campuses with the highest need.
“We used to have 37 reading recovery teachers,” O’Bara said. “Over two years, 17 of them have separated from us. None of those 17 have been replaced. So now we took 37 that were spread across 27 campuses and reduced it to 20 spread across 27 campuses.”
What happens if voters say no?
O’Bara said the outlook is grim. If voters don’t approve the tax increase, she estimates that the district would have to eliminate or freeze another 250 full-time positions. Enrichment programs would be reduced, and program positions such as fine arts assistant directors and athletics coaches could be reduced. Some vocational certification programs would be cut.
How new funding would be prioritized?
If voters pass the measure, bringing $26 million in new revenue each year, the funds will serve three principal areas. The district would put $16 million into teacher salaries, $5 million into safety and security, and the remaining $5 million into programs and enrichment for students.
Denton ISD is the second largest employer in Denton County, with 4,854 full-time employees reporting for duty on 47 campuses.
O’Bara said the ratification election could make the district more competitive for teachers. Right now, Denton ISD’s starting salary is $60,500, which makes the district less attractive than Arlington ISD, which pays $66,100, or McKinney ISD, which offers a starting salary of $63,500.
While Denton ISD has an armed school safety officer or school resource officer on every campus, there is a shortage of such officers across the state. If passed, the measure would keep the district competitive for officers in the future.
The measure would also allow the district to hire the specialists it lost by freezing positions, including reading recovery and bilingual specialists and content interventionists who help students who are struggling to perform at grade level. Some campuses don’t have support in those areas as the remaining staff travels between campuses with the highest need.
“We used to have 37 reading recovery teachers,” O’Bara said. “Over two years, 17 of them have separated from us. None of those 17 have been replaced. So now we took 37 that were spread across 27 campuses and reduced it to 20 spread across 27 campuses.”
What happens if voters say no?
O’Bara said the outlook is grim. If voters don’t approve the tax increase, she estimates that the district would have to eliminate or freeze another 250 full-time positions. Enrichment programs would be reduced, and program positions such as fine arts assistant directors and athletics coaches could be reduced. Some vocational certification programs would be cut.