Since that time we have opened 13 campuses which account for 11,500 students and 1,180 employees.
Click Here to View The Budget Challenges Presentation.
Click Here to View pdf version.
Budgetary Discussions Include:
-- Extra Curricular Activity Fees
– Further Tighten Bus Routes
– Cost Analysis of Academy and Vocational Programs
– Departmental and Campus Budget Adjustments
– Health Insurance Program Changes
– Staffing Guideline Changes
Fort Bend ISD Budgetary Challenges
Fort Bend ISD is facing a potential annual budgetary shortfall of $74 million based upon the current state budget estimates. FBISD has been aggressively addressing budgetary shortfalls for the past three budget cycles. The proposed budget reductions will return FBISD to the 2005/06 budgetary levels. It is important to note that since that time, the district has added 13 campuses which have a student enrollment of 11,500 and 1,180 employees.
The district has adopted cost saving measures for the past three years by delaying and/or halting academy programs at area high schools, reducing departmental and campus budgets, freezing salaries of administrative and support personnel, freezing and/or delaying the employment of personnel, modifying the bell schedule and collapsing bus routes for efficiency, and conducting a Reduction in Force in 2010 which affected approximately 450 employees at all levels of the organization.
The decisions which will be necessary to respond to the state’s budgetary shortfall will directly impact students and families in 2012 and 2013.
All areas of the budget are currently being considered and carefully reviewed. Since salary and benefits comprise 87% of our current budget, the majority of reductions will be made in the area of staffing and the programs staff members support. Some of the items which will be presented to the Board of Trustees for consideration for the future which directly affect campuses include:
1. Implementing an extra-curricular activity and instrument rental fee.
2. Increased class size ratios at the elementary and secondary levels.
3. Curtailing academy programs at the various campuses throughout the district and/or consolidating the academy programs at one central location. Transporting students to academies located throughout the district, along with offering a wider range of electives at each campus, causes these programs to be more costly in some instances than other elective opportunities.
4. Elimination of low enrollment foreign language programs. FBISD is particularly proud of our multi-cultural status and we currently offer instruction in variety different languages throughout our district and are concerned that we will have to limit the number of opportunities for our students.
5. Elimination of low enrollment electives, including electives in the career and technology area that prepare our non-college bound students for the workforce.
6. Limiting the number of non-district games at in all sports, particularly at the sub-varsity level.
7. Limiting the number of competitions that our fine arts students may participate and/or limiting the transportation options for individual contests.
FBISD is proud of our varied curriculum and the success of our students. We believe that the cuts proposed by the legislature will dramatically impact the quality of education our children receive and will have a negative impact on the economic future of Texas. If you are similarly concerned, we ask that you visit the website often for updates on the legislative and budget process and that you contact your legislator and express your concern about programmatic cuts. A list of the legislators and their contact information can be found on the district’s website at http://www.fortbendisd.com/board/documents/elected%20officials%2007%2015%2009%20update.pdf. If you have questions, please attend a budget workshop
(Tuesday – March 8, 7:00-8:30 pm – Colony Bend Elementary, 2720 Planters Street, Sugar Land 77479
OR
Thursday – March 10, 7:00-8:30 pm – Austin High School, 3434 Pheasant Creek Drive, Sugar Land 77498)
or contact our Chief Financial Officer, Tracy Hoke, at [email protected] so that she may answer your specific questions.
In short, FBISD asks that the legislature minimize the cuts to public education by using all of the tools at their disposal, such as the rainy day fund, a payment delay and other revenue measures that will enable the state to adopt a budget that reduces harm to the public education system.