HISD unveils plan to slash $500M from budget — but still doesn’t detail specific cuts (2024)

The multibillion-dollar question of how Houston ISD intends to balance its budget went largely unanswered Thursday night, with district administrators revealing few specifics about job or program cuts as they unveiled a long-awaited spending plan for 2024-25.

HISD Superintendent Mike Miles said the district will move forward with slashing over $500 million, equivalent to about 20 percent of the district’s spending in the 2023-24 school year, due to an upcoming budget squeeze, but he only gave broad outlines of which departments would see the reductions. HISD likely will need to eliminate a significant number of jobs and scale back initiatives to trim $500 million next school year.

“We cut a lot of positions in central office and that’s very painful,” Miles said. “Anytime you cut, they’re real people, real jobs.”

HISD released its budget plan to the media Thursday afternoon at the start of the first and only scheduled board meeting about the budget, which trustees expect to vote on next month. However, destructive winds and power outages at HISD’s central office forced board members to cancel the workshop before Chief Financial Officer Jim Terry could present the budget to trustees. Miles spoke to the media prior to the meeting and release of the budget plan Thursday afternoon.

HISD is already behind its typical schedule for detailing its spending plans for the upcoming year. By mid-May last year, HISD had held four public budget workshops to explain plans to the board and gauge community members’ feedback, district records show. District officials plan to reschedule Thursday’s canceled meeting for May 23.

The delay in releasing detailed information to the public concerns elected trustee Sue Deigaard, especially with drastic cuts planned. Deigaard and the rest of HISD’s elected school board technically remain in place, though all of their power has been temporarily transferred to a state-appointed board of managers as part of sanctions against the district.

“It’s easier for the distrust to grow if enough people don’t understand why this is happening,” Deigaard said.

Miles argues the deep cuts are necessary because the district is headed toward a “fiscal cliff” created by years of enrollment declines and HISD’s recent use of pandemic stimulus funds to prop up its budget. HISD is using roughly $325 million in federal stimulus dollars this fiscal year, the documents HISD released Thursday evening show. Those funds are set to expire in the fall.

Miles’ plan to balance the budget comes primarily from cuts to HISD’s central office, which includes non-academic operations, technology and curriculum, among numerous other departments.

School budgets, which largely cover teacher and campus administrator salaries, would stay relatively flat under Miles’ plan.

The 130 campuses participating in Miles’ “New Education System” next year will receive funding increases to cover higher teacher salaries, bringing their average budget to $5.6 million. Many of the roughly 140 campuses not included in the program will see budget cuts, bringing their average total to $4.8 million, with roughly two dozen campuses required to shave 12 percent of spending due to enrollment declines.

HISD plans to offset next year’s deficit, in part, by selling $80 million in property and dipping into $130 million of its “rainy day” fund. That would leave $800 million in reserves, which Miles said is a healthy level to maintain the district’s strong bond rating.

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The key unanswered question, however, is how many positions the district plans to eliminate to save hundreds of millions of dollars. In early May, HISD terminated over a hundred wraparound specialists who serve students living in poverty, but those cuts likely will only save the district around $10 million.

While he didn’t detail layoff totals, Miles outlined the level of planned cuts to central office departments, including some that will see the biggest hits. Staff salaries make up most of the spending in the departments.

• The operations office would lose roughly $101 million, equivalent to 45 percent of its 2023-24 budget. Several thousand people work in the department, including custodians, bus drivers and numerous other non-teaching staff work.

• The human resources office would lose roughly $97 million, equivalent to 88 percent of its 2023-24 budget.

• The academics office would lose about $69 million, equivalent to 37 percent of its 2023-24 budget. The office includes employees who develop curriculum, support teachers and engage with parents.

• The information technology office would see roughly $68 million in cuts, equivalent to 58 percent of its 2023-24 budget.

Asher Lehrer-Small covers education for the Landing and would love to hear your tips, questions and story ideas about Houston ISD. Reach him at asher@houstonlanding.org.

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