Brownsville ISD begins work on 2025-2026 budget

Brownsville ISD began deliberations Wednesday on the district’s 2025-2026 budget, hours before the Texas House gave initial approval to a bill that would create a $1 billion private school voucher program.

On an 85-63 vote early Thursday, the House signed off on the voucher bill, Senate Bill 2, and also gave preliminary approval to House Bill 2, its $7.7 billion school funding package.

All that is left is for Republicans in both chambers to reconcile their differences on the two bills, and Gov. Greg Abbott and his allies will have reached their goal of enacting a private school voucher program in Texas.

Daniella Lopez Valdez, the BISD budget committee chairwoman, joined the meeting virtually from Austin as the vouchers bill was being debated on the House floor and just as the chamber had defeated a proposal to put the issue up for a statewide vote.

Lopez Valdez has spent considerable time in Austin advocating against the voucher plan on behalf of BISD and other districts in the Edinburg-based Region One Educational Service Center.

The anticipated approval of the omnibus school funding package and the voucher plan will provide clarity as BISD crafts its budget for the next school year.

The budget committee spent the first part of Wednesday’s meeting going over the details of the 2024-2025 budget, which included deficit spending of $23.6 million and was based on a tax rate of $1.028684, the lowest in the last 10 years.

The actual amount of deficit spending will end up somewhat less than what was budgeted for because BISD’s and state property valuations were within 5% of each other, Mary Garza of the BISD Finance Office said in outlining last year’s budget and considerations for next year.

BISD is projected to lose 1,101 students in 2025-2026 compared to the current year, she said.

BISD reached its enrollment peak in 2008, when it had 48 campuses and 48,837 students for a 92.6% utilization rate, according to data she presented at the meeting.

By 2024, BISD had 50 campuses but just 37,065 students for a capacity utilization rate of 65.2%.

The trend is expected to continue for at least the next six years, due largely to a declining birth rate and other demographic factors, Superintendent Jesus H. Chavez said.

BISD will hold three more budget committee workshops between now and June 26, when the BISD Board of Trustees will hold a special called meeting at which it will hold a public hearing on the 2025-2026 budget and tax rate.

The budget must be adopted before July 1, and the tax rate is to be set at a board meeting on Sept 2.

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