The San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District’s budget for the next school year depends upon how the state legislature votes in these next coming months, according to information provided at Monday’s school board meeting. The district predicts a $4.8 million deficit for the 2025-2026 school year.
House Bill 2 was passed in the House but now waits for a decision from the Senate. This bill would increase the basic allotment for each student, something that has not been done since 2019.
Many parents and students attended the meeting and spoke their concerns about the uncertainty of Fine Arts programming, as well as JROTC and special education programming. The board gave a presentation explaining how previous budgets will affect the upcoming school year.
“It is a moving puzzle,” SMCISD Superintendent Michael Cardona said.
In June of 2024 the San Marcos CISD School Board voted in a budget that contained a $17.6 million deficit. This number is what is required for cuts/savings needed to eliminate the structural budget deficit. The school district sets their budget based on student enrollment as opposed to Average Daily Attendance. Over the past few years there were mandated programs from the state which were not fully funded from the state’s budget, so the district had to make up for the difference for these programs, which include the increased safety measures on all campuses. The district received $239,762 for safety, but in order to meet state requirements, the district budgeted for $1.96 million for safety. In 2024 voters approved the Voter Approval Tax Rate Election, which made the tax rate $1.0152 and allowed the district to gain $2.7 million in revenue.
During the school board meeting, the district presented transparent data to help explain how they allocate funding in the budget in comparison to how much money is received from the state. For example, the state gives the district about $8.2 million for Special Education, but the district allocates $14.4 million toward Special Education in the budget.
The Human Resource team explained their process of attrition positions, which included eliminating district roles such as the Associate Director of Child Nutrition, the Director of College & Career Readiness and Director of Energy Management, among others. Employees have been notified if their positions are eliminated, and Human Resources has offered resources to help during the difficult transition.
Athletic Director John Walsh gave an overview of the athletics budget, which is at $373,270 — about $87 per student with 750 student athletes at San Marcos High School and 650 students at the middle schools.
The district is working with their financial advisors Moak Casey to watch the decisions made by the legislature and are forming predictions for the budget but won’t have a clear idea until the state votes on the overall budget in June. As of now, they predict a $4.8 million projected deficit for the 2025-2026 school year.
