Texas’ comptroller is looking into Austin ISD’s administrative spending

The Austin Independent School District is one of four districts under a “performance review” by the Texas Comptroller for how it spent taxpayer money during the 2025-26 school year.

Chandra Villanueva, director of budget and policy at the advocacy group Every Texan, said the selected districts will have to reassign staff to respond to the investigation.

“It will have an administrative burden on the districts that are being audited,” she said.

The investigation comes as many districts across the state are struggling to balance their budgets. Austin ISD’s projected deficit for the 2025-26 school year increased from $19.5 million when the budget was adopted in June 2025 to $105 million this past June. District officials have said the budget deficit grew due to lower attendance rates that translate to lower revenue, a failure to bring in revenue through the sale of two properties and increased spending on academic needs.

Gov. Greg Abbott requested the investigation in August, saying more information was needed before the start of the next legislative session in January. Abbott said Texans need to make sure the $104.9 billion spent on K-12 education is used for supporting students and teachers “rather than accelerating administrative bloat.”

For the 2026-27 school year, AISD had to cut $205 million from its budget. The district eliminated some vacant positions and transportation services. But AISD is now having to find other places to cut. In September, officials said they could lose an estimated $14 million in revenue due to lower enrollment than previously projected. As enrollment has declined over the last decade, officials have said the district has also decreased its administrative costs.

Villanueva said in recent years, state funding has become more complex. She says the Texas Education Agency requires districts to abide by certain rules to access funding, which leads to having administrators do the work.

“TEA keeps adding more and more requirements on things that the school district has to do and comply with, so you still need a lot of administrators to keep up with the rules,” she said. “So everyone points to administrators as a bloat within the school system, but that’s not always true either.”

The Texas Comptroller, Don Huffines, was given discretion to choose four districts across the state, excluding those under takeover, for investigation. The other three selected districts are Barbers Hill ISD, El Paso ISD and Prosper ISD.

“This review is an important step to ensure transparency, accountability, and the responsible use of public funds,” Huffines said in a written statement.

Villanueva said the state of Texas has many financial safeguards in place to make sure districts comply with the law.

“The Texas Education Agency is also able to take over a school district for financial mismanagement,” she said. “So the fact that these school districts have not been flagged previously for financial mismanagement is something to consider for why they are being looked at now.”

State Senator Sarah Eckhardt, a Democrat who is running against Huffines for Texas Comptroller, questioned why districts under state takeover were not considered and whether the state will carry out an “honest review.” She said in a written statement that schools in Texas won’t get ahead when they are “buried under constant and multiple layers of bureaucracy and political retribution.”

In response to the initial announcement of a state investigation, representatives from the Texas House Democratic Caucus said they support transparency and accountability, but they questioned the criteria that was used to select the districts and why charter schools and districts that are under a state takeover had been excluded.

AISD has come under scrutiny from the state multiple times in recent months. In February, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation after AISD students participated in a national walkout against immigration enforcement. A month later, Paxton notified the district about a complaint regarding an alleged violation of Senate Bill 8, commonly known as the “bathroom bill.” More recently, the Texas Education Agency launched an investigation into the district’s annual Pride Week. The results of these investigations have not been made public.

Huffines said a final report will be completed by Dec. 31, aiming to give enough time for lawmakers to consider recommendations during the next legislative session.

AISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.