The AISD doom loop
Solving the problem only makes it worse.
Traditionally I don't wade into school district news but the horrendous situation at AISD has serious implications for the entire city. Less than a year after announcing plans to close 10 schools, the district now says that its financial situation has only gotten worse: its projected deficit for next year now stands at $181 million.
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From KUT:
[Superintendent Matias] Segura and AISD’s Chief Financial Officer Katrina Montgomery explained four different scenarios involving budget cuts. In three of them, the district could end up with a balanced budget after applying “strategies” that would help save $132 million.
The proposed cuts include saving $24.5 million with “staffing adjustments” on school campuses, including middle schools and elementary schools. The biggest savings — nearly $41 million — could come from staffing reductions at department levels.
Even after $130M in cuts, the district may be forced to take out a loan to bridge the gap.
Where did all the money go? Two things are for sure. The first is recapture, the mechanism by which the state takes half of the school taxes paid by Austinites. But Superintendent Matias Segura also highlighted two other factors:
But he said the main factors driving the shortfall are decreasing property values over the last three years and a drop in enrollment because of immigration enforcement.
“Families are leaving and no new families are coming, and that’s a big number,” he said.
(School funding in Texas is tied to attendance. Even one missed day of school reduces funding for the district. A student leaving the district means thousands in lost revenue)
That more than a year of ferocious federal harassment of immigrants would depress attendance in a heavily immigrant school district is intuitive. But this is one of the rare instances where I agree with former AISD Trustee Kendall Pace...
