Keller ISD enrolls about 4,000 fewer students than it did five years ago.
Northwest ISD is still building schools for growth, while Crowley ISD is trying to attract more students.
All three districts are wrestling with the same problem: Their costs are becoming harder to cover.
Across the Fort Worth area, districts adopted 2026-27 budgets shaped by different pressures — enrollment losses or growth, inflation and rising employee costs. Some were able to balance their budgets only after voters approved higher tax rates; others were forced to dip into reserves or hold job positions vacant. Some have delayed staff raises.
The squeeze extends to districts under state takeover, as Fort Worth and Lake Worth both adopted budgets with shortfalls this summer.
Keller balanced its roughly $346 million general fund only after identifying nearly $13 million in reductions. That’s on top of about $57 million in cuts over the past three years.
District leaders eliminated some staff positions or held the posts vacant. They also cut departmental and discretionary spending, spokesperson Bryce Nieman said. Keller officials expect another 5,000 students could leave over the next five years.
“As enrollment declines, Keller ISD generates less attendance-based revenue, even though many district costs — such as facilities, transportation routes, utilities, insurance, technology systems and minimum staffing requirements — do not decline at the same rate,” Nieman said.
Three Keller campuses will close after this school year, eventually saving about $3 million annually. Those savings are not included in this year’s budget.
Meanwhile, Crowley faces a different enrollment picture but a similar financial problem. The district enrolled 17,098 students last year, the most in its history.
Despite that growth, its budget projects about $200 million in revenue against $207.8 million in spending, requiring roughly $6.3 million from reserves, Chief Financial Officer Leon Fisher said. That leaves the district’s reserve fund balance at about 13% of operating expenses, below the 17% to 21% range trustees said the district has historically sought to maintain.
Superintendent Michael McFarland called it a structural shortfall — meaning the district’s recurring expenses are growing faster than its recurring revenue. While revenue is growing about 3%, he said, expenses are rising 4.2%.
Employees may face the consequences.
Crowley entered the budget year with 148 vacant positions — about 70 of them teaching jobs — and leaders said each opening would be scrutinized before it is filled. Since about 85% to 88% of district spending is tied to personnel, McFarland said eliminating the shortfall must include staffing cuts.
Alongside potential cuts, the district also held employee compensation at last year’s levels for now, despite the fact that raises ranked as a top issue in a recent community budget survey. Officials plan to reconsider compensation after receiving financial audits and firmer enrollment and attendance numbers.
Growth isn’t insulating Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD either.
District leaders budgeted for 218 additional students but still adopted a general fund plan requiring about $9.5 million from reserves. Without a proposed 4-cent voter-approved tax increase — which Eagle Mountain-Saginaw voters will see on the November ballot — officials project the gap could reach about $13.4 million. That would force 197 jobs to be cut by next school year.
Officials pointed to inflation and the state funding process as part of the problem. Texas funds schools based on the number of students who attend classes. The funding amount per student has risen from $6,160 in 2019 to $6,215. Had it kept pace with inflation, the increase would have been about $1,340 per student instead of $55, according to area school leaders.
Northwest and Hurst-Euless-Bedford are both examples of what additional voter-approved local tax dollars can change.
After voters approved a tax-rate increase in Northwest, the fast-growing district reversed some previous staffing cuts. Northwest lowered its elementary staffing ratio from 24 students per teacher to 22 and reduced its secondary school staffing ratio from 180 students per teacher to 173.
But as local property values grow, the state contributes less under the state’s school finance formula, district officials said. They also estimate state funding covers only about 55% to 75% of required safety and security costs.
In HEB ISD, officials were able to present a balanced budget but said that was possible largely because voters approved a 3-cent tax increase, generating another $12 million.
Officials pointed to special education, security, transportation and employee costs that they say state funding does not fully cover.
On the west side of the region, the growing Aledo ISD adopted a shortfall budget. During an Aug. 24 board meeting, Superintendent Susan Bohn also cited years of inflation and said she is concerned about sustainable funding into the future.
“The funding formula is far less than the mandates (the state) has imposed,” HEB spokesperson Deanne Hullender said.
Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org or @matthewsgroi1.
Disclosure: Lake Worth ISD manager Tom Harris is an executive vice president at Hillwood, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. 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.
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