Crowley ISD Budget Update

March 22, 2024

Hello Crowley ISD,

Spring is here and I hope you took the opportunity during spring break to relax, rejuvenate and refresh for the journey ahead. As we enter the last quarter of the 2023-2024 school year, I want you to know how grateful I am to be on this journey with you. This has already been an eventful year, and I believe even better days are ahead.

As you are aware, changes were made to the normal testing schedule and state assessments have been moved up slightly this year. Modifications have already been made in our curriculum guiding documents, so if we continue to implement the plans that have been put forward, our students should be on track and adequately prepared to meet and exceed our expectations on the state assessment and beyond.

Spring not only signifies the opening of the assessment windows, but it is also the time of the year we start developing the budget for the next school year. Before we left for spring break, we launched our Budget Priorities Survey and many of you have shared your perspective. If you have not had a chance to provide input, please complete our the survey by Monday, March 25.

At the School Board meeting on March 7, we shared with the board our current financial reality and provided end of year financial projections. (view the full presentation here)

The reality is that the legislative inaction of our elected officials in Austin has created significant budget challenges in every school district in the state and has introduced a level of financial uncertainty in Crowley ISD. According to our forecast models, the budget deficit could reach $16 million at the end of this fiscal year.

As a result of this potential reality, and in an effort to manage our current budget and prepare for our 2024-2025 budget, we are immediately engaging in a rational budget reduction process, while also aggressively seeking out external grant funds to support key programs and initiatives.

Our commitment is to hold true to our mission of ensuring excellence in education as our primary responsibility while protecting student learning and core classroom instruction as the center of our efforts.

The rational budget reduction process allows us to be intentional in what we protect and strategic in the things we abandon. Our decision-making process will be informed by our Financial Big Six and guided by the budget reduction principles below:

1. The integrity of core classroom instruction will be protected by making reductions as far away from the classroom as possible.
2. Action steps selected for reduction will be based on lowest impact on classroom instruction and highest budget implications.
3. Action steps will ensure that reductions are equitably distributed throughout the organization.
4. Faculty, staff, community and parents will have opportunities to engage in a collaborative process to provide input and suggestions for revenue enhancements and/or cost reduction strategies.

This strategy and other budget decision-making tools will be used to rationally make decisions about revenue enhancements, cost reductions and reallocations. By staying true to the process and analyzing the actions based on impact on the core classroom instruction, we will be able to prioritize the strategy and evaluate its potential impact on student learning.

I recognize and acknowledge that over 80% of the school budget is allocated to personnel costs, and therefore our reduction efforts will impact personnel and services provided to students and/or teachers. Our commitment is to minimize the impact as much as possible by realigning responsibilities and pursuing alternative funding sources when possible.

Our commitment to each one of you is to operate with courtesy, dignity, respect and professionalism and to be transparent in our decision-making. Notification of personnel implications will be communicated as quickly as possible to affected parties. We believe a significant portion of the potential deficit can be addressed through attrition, not filling vacancies, and freezes on hiring and discretionary spending.

It is unfortunate that we are having to make these massive reductions in public school funding while our state maintains a $32.7 billion surplus. This fiscal crisis was manufactured by politicians in Austin and as the saying goes, “Elections have consequences!”

Despite the legislative inaction, educators and leaders are called to lead through the storm, and we will lead as we have through other storms in the past. Our mission and our calling remain in place that we must provide the best educational experience possible within the current context and you have my commitment to do just that.

I simply ask for your patience and trust as we navigate through these uncharted waters. I am confident that everything we have been through has prepared us for what we are about to go through, and we will continue to work as One Team with One Dream!

Crowley Pride Unified!
Dr. Michael McFarland
Superintendent

Click here to view the Investing in the Future flyer.