Richardson ISD approved staff cuts and other program reductions that will save the district an estimated $25.7 million.
The cuts will include the reduction of roughly 95 full-time positions, according to a presentation from Superintendent Tabitha Branum at the April 2 board of trustees meeting.
The proposed changes would be enacted with the district’s 2026-27 budget, which is set for approval in June.
“Every one of the reductions that I’m bringing forward, we could justify why we need to keep them,” Branum said. “We have to bring our current staffing model to better align with our current enrollment.”
What you need to know
The 38 full-time central office positions set to be eliminated will come from multiple departments, including:
TechnologyHuman resourcesAdministrative servicesAfter-school programmingFinancial servicesSchool leadershipPrint servicesFacilities servicesAdditionally, 57 full-time campus support positions will be eliminated or reduced, from the following department:Central-funded instructional coachesAssistant principalsPermanent subsParent-engagement programming supportThe staff reductions will save the district $5.73 million.
Branum said that some of the positions are currently vacant and will not be refilled. She added that all employees impacted will have a job at RISD for the 2026-27 school year, although it “may be in a different role.”
Additional savings will include the following:
$2.75 million for a 13% reduction for food and travel$4.29 million by reducing non-payroll expenses$1.64 million by standardizing elementary and secondary support staffing model$11.1 million by transitioning from an eight-period block schedule and implementing a traditional seven-period scheduleThe big picture
RISD is facing decreasing enrollment and rising costs, along with limited state funding to address those challenges, Branum said.
At the March 12 meeting, Branum said the district aimed to reduce expenditures by at least $24 million, which would require changes to staffing.
“[We aim to] keep it as far away from kids in the classroom as possible,” Branum said.
David Pate, assistant superintendent of finance and support services, estimated at the March 12 meeting that RISD would end fiscal year 2025-26 with a $27 million fund balance deficit. Pate said early estimates for FY 2026-27, without including potential reductions, showed the deficit growing to $41 million.
Based on preliminary numbers, Pate said the district could see an expenditure increase of at least $1 million for FY 2026-27. The preliminary estimate included $500,000 for student recruitment efforts, as well as additional special education teachers and anticipated growth in phone bill and insurance costs.
The estimated increase also did not include potential compensation increases, which Branum said was a priority in the budget development.
How we got here
Most of the district’s budget is spent on people, Branum said, so budget reductions will require cuts to staffing and reductions in the district’s central office.
“There is no way for us to get to that $24 million savings mark without impacting staffing models,” Branum said.
While district enrollment has decreased since 2020, staffing numbers have remained relatively stable. Branum said the reductions would bring staffing numbers into more alignment with enrollment.
Branum also noted that there have been new staffing requirements since the COVID-19 pandemic that have increased staffing numbers, including 42 allocations to meet a state-mandated safety and security requirement.
“Those are positions that we had to add and are not fully funded, and I cannot cut,” Branum said. “While it looks like we have added staff while our enrollment has gone down, some of the additions have been out of our control.”