{"id":194811,"date":"2026-03-07T15:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194811\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T15:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T15:53:14","slug":"austin-isd-looks-to-cut-costs-by-39m-as-budget-shortfall-grows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194811\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin ISD looks to cut costs by $39M as budget shortfall grows"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAustin ISD<\/a> is aiming to reduce its expenses over time and increase its savings, known as fund balance.<\/p>\n

The district is planning to make $39 million in cuts this fiscal year and $125 million in reductions in FY 2026-27, according to AISD documents<\/a>. The FY 2025-26 cuts come as the district works to lower a projected $49 million shortfall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been reducing our deficit by controlling our expenses,\u201d Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery said at a Feb. 26 board meeting<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing a good job reducing expenses, but we have to start making permanent cuts or reducing the budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

The update<\/p>\n

AISD was initially working to lower a projected $111 million shortfall for FY 2025-26 to $19 million. The district was expected to sell two properties for $45 million and cut $47 million through additional strategies.<\/p>\n

In January, the board of trustees approved selling the former Brooke Elementary campus<\/a> in Southeast Austin to Trammell Crow Company <\/a>and High Street Residential<\/a>. The development is slated to serve as a multifamily apartment complex.<\/p>\n

The projected shortfall has since increased to $136 million after a $26 million land sale failed to go through this fiscal year, Montgomery said.<\/p>\n

Community pushback and pending litigation has slowed AISD’s plans to sell the former Rosedale School campus<\/a> in North Central Austin to OHT Partners<\/a>. The developer has proposed building a 435-unit, market-rate apartment complex spanning six stories with a parking garage.<\/p>\n

The district now plans to cut $2 million in special education contracts and make $39 million in additional reductions to lower its projected budget shortfall to $49 million in FY 2025-26.<\/p>\n

Last summer, the district cut $10 million from its central office<\/a> through eliminating positions, reassignments and new reporting structures. AISD implemented a hiring freeze for external candidates in January.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

For FY 2026-27, the district is aiming to realize a $5 million budget surplus to increase its fund balance. To do so, AISD would need to lower a projected $166 million shortfall through $125 million in budget cuts. Additionally, the district expects to execute the $26 million property sale and save $20 million through eliminating department vacancies, Montgomery said.<\/p>\n

\"(Courtesy(Courtesy Austin ISD)How it works<\/p>\n

Under typical board policy, the district must maintain a fund balance amount that equals at least 20% of its operating expenditures. Over the past three fiscal years, the board has allowed the district to lower this threshold to 15%, but that exception will expire in FY 2027-28, Montgomery said.<\/p>\n

The planned budget cuts are expected to help AISD generate savings that will increase its fund balance back up to the 20% threshold, which is around $202 million, according to AISD information.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned<\/p>\n

Beginning March 9, AISD will hold community meetings<\/a> to discuss the future of several district properties, including 10 campuses that are closing<\/a> this summer.<\/p>\n

The district may choose to sell or reuse these campuses as educational facilities either now or in the future, AISD\u2019s website states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin ISD is aiming to reduce its expenses over time and increase its savings, known as fund balance.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[77247,132,43853,134,77241,6206,6205,77239,77245,77240,77242,77246,133,77243,77244],"class_list":["post-194811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-aisd-deficit-reduction-plan","tag-austin","tag-austin-education-news","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-isd-125-million-cuts","tag-austin-isd-budget-cuts","tag-austin-isd-budget-shortfall","tag-austin-isd-deficit-2026","tag-austin-isd-financial-plan","tag-austin-isd-fund-balance","tag-austin-isd-property-sales","tag-austin-isd-school-closures-and-budget","tag-austin-news","tag-brooke-elementary-sale-austin-isd","tag-rosedale-school-redevelopment-austin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}