Fort Worth ISD is staring down a $49.8 million shortfall next year — even after closing campuses, cutting staff and slashing spending.
The moves lowered FWISD’s 2025-26 shortfall to $12.6 million. But with enrollment falling and costs climbing, state-appointed district leaders warned the board of managers Tuesday that more cuts may be on the horizon to combat a projected quadrupling of the shortfall in 2026-27.
The problem is clear to Superintendent Peter Licata.
“We’re spending a lot of money on kids we don’t have,” Licata said. “Let’s take care of the ones we do have.”
FWISD projects to enroll 63,068 students next year, nearly 6,000 fewer than the number projected just over a year ago.
Fewer students means fewer state dollars because Texas funds schools based on attendance.
At the same time, the district’s expenses keep climbing. Teacher pay raises, a new school improvement model for chronically underperforming campuses and higher operating expenses are driving up costs.
The new school model, called the Elevate Network, accounts for $25.1 million. Manager Luis Galindo asked how that money would be spent.
Most dollars for the Elevate Network are focused on paying salaries for teachers who earn more than their counterparts at traditional campuses, Licata said. Additionally, the 19 Elevate schools required new technology, such as updated Chromebooks, projectors and interactive screens.
Sabrina Ball, a FWISD parent and activist, told managers her biggest problem with the budget is the Elevate Network because she does not see transparency around the initiative.
Key budget dates
- June 12: Publish notice of public hearing
- June 23: Budget public hearing and adoption
- Before Sept. 30: Property tax rate adoption
“ It is fiscally irresponsible to implement a model that has no real data to support it, a model that is driving away highly qualified educators, a model I believe does real harm to students,” Ball said.
Board Secretary Rosa Maria Berdeja said she appreciated the 5% raises for classroom teachers. However, she asked the superintendent if the district could provide more than a 2% raise to principals and other eligible staff.
Licata said he would direct staff to find a couple of additional million dollars to provide a bigger pay bump — without going into reserves.
FWISD cannot keep dipping into its reserves to cover its shortfalls, Licata said. Estimates show the district maintaining the recommended 90 days of operating funds in reserves next year, but foresee falling below that benchmark in subsequent years if spending and revenue trends continue.
“We are still spending more money than we get in, which is not a good place to be,” Licata said. “It’s just bad math.”
Chief Financial Officer Darla Moss stressed to managers the projected deficit is a conservative estimate that likely will be reduced in the coming weeks and throughout the new school year.
“We have work to do, still, to get the deficit and to rightsize our budget,” Moss said.
Research shows state takeovers of school districts tend to increase per-student spending as well as improve some measures of fiscal health.
Board President Pete Geren called the preliminary budget an important first step as the district’s new leadership redirects a $1 billion budget after taking control in late March.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Licata said. “This is not something we can fix in 78 days.”
Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report’s reader advisory council. 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.
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
