{"id":342729,"date":"2026-06-19T11:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/342729\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T11:08:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T11:08:07","slug":"austin-isd-trustees-approve-887m-operating-budget-for-next-school-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/342729\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin ISD trustees approve $887M operating budget for next school year"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The Austin ISD Board of Trustees approved the district’s $887 million operating budget for the 2026-2027 school year late Thursday night after hours of debate.<\/a><\/p>\n

The district’s $887 million spending plan addresses a projected $181 million deficit and includes a $19 million boost to the district’s savings accounts.<\/p>\n

District leaders approved a major change at the last minute late Thursday night, trustees amending the budget to make sure all AISD campuses have a full-time librarian on-staff. <\/p>\n

The budget has impacted more than 500 positions districtwide, reduced central office spending, and changed some staffing and transportation operations to help close AISD’s budget gap.<\/p>\n

PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Austin ISD trustees hear pleas to protect programs as $181M deficit budget debated<\/a><\/p>\n

Many community members wore black during the meeting after Education Austin described it as a funeral for positions and programs they believe are at risk.<\/p>\n

“I ask you to look beyond what can be cut and focus on what must be protected,” Sharon Vigil, CEO of Communities in Schools of Central Texas, said to board members at the meeting on Thursday. “Honor the courage of families who stood before you over the last four weeks.”<\/p>\n

District leaders say stagnant state funding, declining enrollment, rising costs and lower-than-expected property values have contributed to the district’s financial challenges.<\/p>\n

“We’re at a point where there is very little we can do to get back to a balanced budget that doesn’t create a disruption,” Superintendent Matias Segura said during the meeting.<\/p>\n

MORE | Texas school districts are struggling to balance their budgets. Who is responsible?<\/a><\/p>\n

580 positions will be impacted<\/p>\n

Austin ISD says the approved budget will impact more than 580 positions at campuses and in the district’s central office. Of those positions, 196 were vacant positions that will be eliminated.<\/p>\n

Out of the 386 staff members affected, only about 20 are still waiting to learn where they’ll be placed next year. The full impact of these cuts is still taking shape.<\/p>\n

District officials say additional positions will be affected as they continue to finalize cuts. While some teachers have talked about leaving the district, it is still unclear whether the changes will also lead families to look elsewhere.<\/p>\n

“I also know that the programs being cut are not extracurricular. They are the reason families choose this district, the reason families stay,” Dan, an Austin ISD parent, said during the meeting. “Austin ISD was once a district that drew families to this city; that reputation was built not in a board room, but band halls, theater stages, and art rooms, and by teachers who give everything to this community. It is not too late to do that.”<\/p>\n

RELATED | Austin ISD scores rise as Texas prepares to release STAAR results for grades 3-8<\/a><\/p>\n

The last minute change<\/p>\n

Board members were initially going to vote on around $185 million in cuts to its next budget. The last-second change raised that number to $205 million.<\/p>\n

The extra $20 million in cuts ensures the district’s savings account did not dip below 10 percent. That account helps the district meet payroll needs during unexpected situations.<\/p>\n

The cuts will increase the district’s savings account by about 13 percent. The trade-off is that class sizes will increase at more schools, the amount spent on substitutes will decrease, employee benefits will be cut, and multiple vacant positions will be eliminated.<\/p>\n

Staffing all AISD campuses with a full-time librarian requires a nearly $1 million investment that will come from the district’s savings account.<\/p>\n

“Part of me is relieved that, and part of me is desperately hoping, that trustees will vote to reverse the course and keep librarians at their schools full time,” Gabby Garcia, AISD librarian, said at the meeting.<\/p>\n

“Losing a full-time librarian at an elementary campus fundamentally changes that campus in a way that I don’t ever see us ever getting back,” AISD Trustee Kathryn Whitley Chu said during the meeting. “I’ve never seen a school or a school district take librarians away.”<\/p>\n

The plan still includes cuts to technology, reducing stipends for special education and bilingual specialists, and changing transportation for after-school programs, middle schools and high schools.<\/p>\n

The district is also planning on making $60 million in property sales to balance part of the budget deficit.<\/p>\n

What’s next?<\/p>\n

District leaders say that, while they continue to look for cuts for next school year, planning for the 2027-2028 budget will start soon.<\/p>\n

Officials say the current budget cuts set the stage for a renewed push for more public education funding when state lawmakers return to the Capitol for the 2027 legislative session.<\/p>\n

District officials also say that, even with this budget now approved, the financial challenges are not going away. They expect more difficult decisions in future budget cycles as they look for additional cuts and work to rebuild the district’s savings account to what they consider a healthy level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 The Austin ISD Board of Trustees approved the district’s $887 million operating budget for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":342730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-342729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342729","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=342729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}