Last fall, Coppell ISD was facing an $8.5 million deficit.
This week, the district said it’s cut that in half – but more work is needed.
Chief Financial Officer Amber Lasseigne told the school board Monday the district first reduced expenses across the budget. Most savings- close to $7 million -- came from payroll cuts, Lassiegne said, not from layoffs.
“These are positions where people have resigned. Nobody's losing their job, nobody has lost their job,” Lasseigne said. “It's really important to note that these are positions where there was a vacancy and we were able to close the position during vacancy.”
Superintendent Leanne Shivers said the district also slowed hiring. If someone’s needed, she said the district used to hire them in May, to lock them in. Not anymore.
“If we're saying we really need to have this position, we better know for 100% that we have the kids that can help support that position,” Shivers told trustees. “And so that is going to require us looking at things in June and making some of those additions later."
The school board voted in October not to close Town Center Elementary after previously shuttering the district’s oldest elementary school the year before amid falling enrollment. Trustees said they wanted to find other ways of shrinking the deficit.
Demographics show enrollment is expected to grow next year by an estimated 225 students, Lasseigne said.
Because Texas education funding follows students, more students could further improve the district’s bottom line.
Lasseigne and Shivers said final enrollment and other numbers won’t be known for a while, but the district was closing in on a balanced budget.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
