Financial Transparency & Budget Challenges

After months of deliberation, community engagement and input from staff and parents, the Eanes ISD Board of Trustees passed a resolution tonight to close Valley View Elementary starting with the 2025-26 school year.

The decision is part of a broader effort by Eanes ISD to address a projected $3.3 million budget deficit in 2024-25 and an expected $6.3 million deficit in 2025-26, driven by declining student enrollment and stagnant state funding for public education. During the Nov. 11 Board Budget Workshop, trustees directed the administration to explore several cost-saving measures, including closing Valley View and consolidating it with Barton Creek Elementary, as well as eliminating Professional Learning Community (PLC) periods for teachers of grades 6-12. Since then, staff have conducted extensive research and shared detailed reports online to maintain transparency throughout the process.

Valley View, in particular, has experienced a steep decline in enrollment, with now 275 students currently attending, making it the least enrolled and least efficient campus in the district. The closure is expected to save approximately $2 million, primarily through staffing efficiencies achieved via attrition.

“Since 1981, Valley View Elementary has been a place where students discovered themselves, staff poured their hearts into every moment and families built lifelong connections,” said Dr. Jeff Arnett, Superintendent of Schools. “It’s unfortunate we are facing these challenges, but the reality of reduced public school funding and shifting demographics requires us to make decisions that are both complicated and emotional.” 

In addition to closing Valley View, the Board also voted to discontinue the Spanish Immersion (SI) program, which is currently offered at all but one elementary school. Starting in the 2025-26 school year, SI students will transition to traditional classrooms. The District has pledged to retain SI teachers by integrating them into general education positions if they choose to remain. Ending the SI program is expected to save approximately $600,000 annually, largely through staffing efficiencies and SI stipend savings.

The District will also eliminate the PLC period for academic staff at the middle schools and high school, beginning in the 2025-26 school year. The Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (CIA) Department will collaborate with campus leaders and staff to develop alternative strategies for teacher planning and collaboration. This measure is estimated to save an additional $2 million.

The months-long decision-making process has been emotionally challenging for Eanes ISD staff and families. Without increased public school funding from the upcoming Texas Legislative Session, budget shortfalls are likely to persist.

“While budget cuts and tough choices are not unique to Eanes ISD - more than 60% of school districts are projecting deficits next year - the impact feels deeply personal,” said Board President James Spradley. “We remain committed to supporting our staff, students and families through these changes and helping them adjust and thrive.”

The District will provide additional details in the coming weeks regarding the timeline and next steps for school consolidation, the discontinuation of the SI program and the elimination of PLC periods.

BACKGROUND
Since last spring, Eanes ISD has encountered several unforeseen economic challenges resulting in a net budget deficit of approximately $3.3 million for the 2024-25 school year. Unless the upcoming 89th session of the Texas Legislature decides to increase school funding for the first time since 2019, the financial outlook worsens in coming years, with projected deficits of $6.3 million in 2025-26, $9.6 million in 2026-27 and $11 million in 2027-28.

Eanes ISD cannot afford to wait. Immediate steps are necessary to prepare for these funding shortfalls and to be responsible stewards of taxpayers’ money. As such, we have begun to provide preliminary information at campus and Board meetings, presenting the reasons for the deficit, and prefacing bigger, more complex budget discussions to come.

Current and projected deficits are the result of external factors beyond our control. These include an unexpected decline in property tax appraisals, stagnant state funding, decreased federal funding, lower investment earnings due to falling interest rates and declining student enrollment attributed to lower birth rates and high housing costs.

There is often a misperception that, because Eanes ISD is the number-one-ranked public school district in Texas and is considered “property-wealthy,” we are not subject to financial challenges. This is not the case. The state’s recapture component in the school funding formula reclaims $95 million of Eanes ISD’s local property tax revenues every year - approximately 60% of funds that would otherwise support our students and staff.

LONG-RANGE FACILITIES PLANNING COMMITTEE
This is a resilient school district with a history of innovation and a hallmark of resourcefulness. Just as the Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee (LRFPC) is currently exploring opportunities to make schools more efficient, more profitable and more conducive to learning, the challenge to re-invent Eanes ISD and to re-generate the financial future is here. These opportunities would be funded out of the Interest & Sinking (I&S) part of the budget, which is not impacted by budget constraints.