Trustees adopt 2024-2025 budget with $4.4 million in cuts

For the sixth-straight year, the Aledo ISD Board of Trustees has adopted a lower tax rate, lowering the rate by $0.0023 for 2024-2025 and bringing the total six-year reduction to nearly $0.39 cents.

“We are grateful for continued relief for our Aledo ISD taxpayers with another reduction in the overall tax rate,” Superintendent Dr. Susan Bohn said. “I appreciate the incredible amount of thoughtful work that has gone into this year’s budgeting process — most definitely the most difficult of my career.”

Over the last five years, the Maintenance and Operations side of the tax rate has been compressed after the passing of House Bill 3 in 2019. The Board adopted a new tax rate of $1.2052 for 2024-2025 on Monday night.

In adopting the budget during the special board meeting, Trustees also approved: a one-time payment of $1,200 for all full-time employees ($600 for part-time employees) that will be made in September, a salary step increase for returning teachers (minimum $300 and possibly more depending on years of service), an adjustment to bus driver’s hourly rate and police officer salary based on a market study, and a small number of individual targeted equity adjustments.

“For months, a team of campus and district leaders have worked with trustees on the very difficult task of making budget cuts while still focusing on using our limited resources to support our greatest needs,” Board President Forrest Collins said. “Compensating our amazing staff was a priority for trustees in this year’s budget even if it meant passing a deficit budget and dipping into our fund balance to do so. I really do wish the legislature’s inaction hadn’t caused us — and most school districts across the state — to be in this position; we would love to do more for our staff.”

District leadership has been committed to having more competitive compensation in Aledo ISD over the last several years, approving anywhere from a 3% to 7% raise for employees in six of the last eight years and getting the district’s starting teacher salary much more competitive, ranking tops in Parker County and in the top 10 among market comparison districts.

“Our Bearcat staff is the very best in the state, and they work hard every day to ensure all students experience high levels of learning and that their learning experiences are exceptional — even when we are asking them to do more with less,” Bohn said. “Our Trustees and district are very prudent with taxpayer dollars and at the same time we recognize the need to compensate our employees and be competitive in the market. These last two years — and more than likely going forward for at least the next year — have made public school budgets a very difficult balance between conservatism and fair, competitive compensation.”

Also discussed at the meeting:

Trustees voted to prepay $3,155,000 of bonds, saving the district and its taxpayers $2.6 million in future interest costs; this brings Aledo ISD’s bond savings to more than $54.8 million since 2006 by actively managing the district’s debt portfolio.

CFO Earl Husfeld shared that Aledo ISD’s bond rating by Fitch Ratings was upgraded from AA to AA+, a recognition from an outside agency of the district’s financial conservatism and superior financial management.

For nearly two years, Trustees and Aledo ISD administration have consistently advocated with the Texas Legislature for increased funding for Texas public schools due to the impact of historic inflation and outdated funding formulas. For instance, Aledo ISD’s insurance bill alone has gone up 459% since 2019 and now exceeds $2.1 million per year. Despite a $33 billion surplus in 2022, the Texas Legislature did not allocate additional capital to public schools for these costs and, with limited reserves available and amid uncertainty with the state funding for future years, Aledo ISD was forced to cut about $4.4 million from its budget. Previously, the district communicated about an estimated $3.8 million in cuts on February 20, but that number has increased since that time, mostly due to not filling vacated staffing positions.

As previously shared, budget cuts included:

• All campuses and departments decreasing their annual operational budgets by 20% (total 30% cuts over the last two years);
• Reduction of central office and administration/leadership positions;
• Reduction of positions originally planned for student growth;
• Reduction of positions through attrition, class size increases, and revision of staff schedules;
• Additional specific reductions (energy usage, overtime management, etc.); and
• Restructuring of roles and responsibilities in athletics, fine arts, library services, GT services, ESL services, special education, counseling, nursing, Career and Technical Education, and instructional support.

Aledo ISD also explored increasing revenue to help cover expenses through other sources, such as athletics fees, technology device protection plan fees, increased football season ticket prices and parking fees. Those items were all implemented for the 2024-2025 school year.