A small Texas school district is facing serious budget problems as state funding remains stagnant amidst rising inflation.
The Dallas Morning News reported that the Sunnyvale school district paid just over $300,000 for property and casualty insurance in 2022 and now is expected to face a cost exceeding half a million dollars, while the state refuses to increase the public school funding.
Since 2019, the base per-student funding from the state has been stuck at $6.10 per student. Adjusted for inflation, this amount should be closer to $7,500 today.
“We need to see that basic allotment increase,” Sunnyvale ISD Superintendent Matt Kimball said. “It’s just not sustainable.”
Most of the school districts in the state are facing the same problem, a survey by the Texas Association of School Business Officials found that more than half of the 300 participating districts expected to end fiscal year 2024 in a shortfall. Many of the districts are planning to close campuses to save costs.
However, closing campuses is not an option for Sunnyvale ISD, which has only four schools serving fewer than 2,500 students. The district’s staff members already perform multiple roles to manage costs. For example, the superintendent directs traffic during school dismissal, maintenance staff drive bus routes, and the assistant superintendent spends significant time on grant applications.
“Our personnel are wearing different hats and more hats and doing things to keep items running, without replacing items,” operations director Keith Adams told DMN. “We’re trying to repair them until we just can’t repair them anymore.”
The district has found other ways to face the growing costs of operations without making massive layoffs.
Sunnyvale relies heavily on community support and philanthropy. The Sunnyvale Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization, helps fill funding gaps by providing grants for resources not covered by the district’s operational budget. The foundation received over 100 grant applications in 2024, up from 70 in 2020, and provided more than $165,000 in grants last school year.
Gov. Greg Abbott has blamed schools for their shortfalls, arguing that they misused federal COVID relief funding, but SISD argues it isn’t facing a dramatic drop in funding from federal money.
On the other hand, parents and lawmakers have blamed Abbott for public school’s dire situations today for refusing to consider an increase in funding without approving a school vouchers measure that would further defund public education.
“The inescapable fact is that Abbott held the needs of school districts hostage for his private school voucher plan,” Rep. Steve Allison, R-San Antonio, said last month, asking Abbott to increase public school funding.
The next legislative session starts in January as Sunnyvale leaders pledge to increase state funding to meet their needs.
