Over the past 18 months, Houston ISD has implemented numerous reforms, which has also resulted in a shakeup in the district’s annual budget.
HISD has reduced expenditure on facility upkeep and transportation while increasing investments in classroom spending and instructional leadership under the direction of Superintendent Mike Miles and a state-appointed board.
The Miles administration anticipates spending roughly $2.2 billion on daily operations in 2024–2025, leaving an estimated $250 million shortfall.
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Here is HISD’s 2024–25 budget, along with a comparison to the previous fiscal year.
Breaking down the budget
As is customary, the HISD school board approved the district’s $2.2 billion budget in June and made a significant amendment to it early this month. Boards are required by Texas law to adopt budgets that divide spending into more than 20 categories.
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The majority of spending, almost $1.2 billion, or 55% of the budget, would be allocated to educational expenses. About 10% of the $1.2 billion is used for vendor and supply payments, while the remaining nearly all of the funds are used for teacher and other school staff salaries and benefits.
At almost 10% of the budget, school leadership is the second-highest expense. Principals, assistant principals, and campus employees in more administrative positions are mainly covered by this in terms of pay and benefits.
At almost 9% of the budget, district building maintenance is the third-highest expense. The salary and benefits of employees account for little less than half of the $210 million allocated for maintenance; the remaining portion is used for contractors, supplies, and other expenses.
Spending on HISD’s central office is dispersed among the many expense categories in this budget style. Since the salaries of the highest-paid staff members make up a very small portion of the district’s overall spending, central office budgets are frequently the subject of scrutiny.
Tweaking the budget
This year’s budget reduces in some areas and increases in others as compared to HISD’s actual spending in 2023–2024.
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The district s projected spending on instruction notably grew by about $83 million, as the district continued to expand its campus overhaul model and put more money toward serving students with disabilities.
HISD also expects to send about $57 million back to the state as part of Texas revenue sharing system formerly known as recapture. Under this model, school districts with a large property tax base relative to their enrollment deliver some of their property tax revenues to the state, which uses that money to help support districts with relatively smaller tax bases. HISD did not send money to the state last year.
As for the sharpest funding drops, HISD plans to cut back on facility and construction spending by about $25 million, or 11 percent, this year. The district has eliminated about one-third of its custodial and maintenance staff since Miles arrival in mid-2023.
Not too far off
HISD s spending patterns largely follow statewide trends, with some small differences.
In 2022-23, the most recent year with available data, districts across Texas spent about 58 percent of their budget on instruction, compared to HISD s planned 55. HISD s projected 10 percent of spending on school leadership would exceed the state average of 7 percent.
The budget figures in this story do not include spending on new campuses or paying off old school bonds. Those dollars are kept in a separate fund.
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Learning Curve: How Houston ISD plans to spend $2.2 billion this school year
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