Hard choices allowed Midway Independent School District to pass a budget that narrows its deficit by nearly $1 million while giving employees a 2% raise.
The Midway ISD board on June 16 passed a $98.2 million budget that includes $2 million for pay raises for teachers and other staff.
The budget trims last year’s record $3.5 million budget deficit to $2.6 million through cuts big and small. Among them:
- Closing Midway’s oldest campus, Speegleville Elementary, saving a projected $1.4 million;
- Reducing middle school class periods from eight to seven, saving $300,000;
- Reorganizing the English as a Second Language staff structure, saving $290,000; and
- Eliminating the middle-school Advancement Via Individual Determination program, saving $220,000.
The budget also eliminates prekindergarten 3 as a result of state law that no longer allows Midway to charge tuition.
Midway officials said cuts were needed to offset financial challenges including declining enrollment, stagnant state aid and rising costs.
“We hated to have to close Speegleville — of course it was difficult — but (it) coincides with the enrollment drop and some inefficiency there,” Wesley Brooks, Midway ISD assistant superintendent of finance said in a June 17 interview with The Waco Bridge.
“It was helpful that we’re able to do that. And keeping an eye on what that looks like in the future. I mean, across the state, you’ve probably heard that districts all over are closing campuses due to similar concerns.”
Bond boost
The district’s $83.5 million bond that voters approved in November also indirectly helped make it possible to reduce the deficit and increase pay.
Though the district cannot use bond money to pay staff, much of the bond was used to address maintenance and technology improvements that otherwise would have come out of the maintenance and operations budget.
The district began work on various bond-funded projects throughout the summer, including LED light upgrades at Rice Field, roofing improvements at South Bosque Elementary and new floors at Spring Valley Elementary. In addition, the district has bought 14 new buses and plans to buy 16 more.
Preliminary work has begun to expand and modernize Midway High School to support extracurricular activities at a cost of $19.3 million.
The district plans to use $2 million of unspent bond funds to acquire 40 acres near Speegleville Road for long-term future use.
“What this piece of property can do is basically future-proof the district for property needs associated (with) elementary up Speegleville Road for some period of time,” said Midway ISD Superintendent Chris Allen during the June 16 regular board meeting.
Keeping up with pay
More than 1,300 Midway ISD faculty and staff will receive raises based on the midpoint of their pay grade. The $2 million compensation package is needed to remain competitive, spokesperson Emily Parks said.
“Could we operate without a deficit?” Parks said. “Probably. We could probably clear it, but we wouldn’t be taking care of our staff, and we wouldn’t be ensuring that we’re doing the things that they need to be supported and taken care of.”
The starting pay for certified teachers is $51,000, up $1,000 from last year.
In nearby Waco Independent School District, trustees this month boosted starting salaries from $54,000 to $55,000 as part of a $4.8 million compensation package.
That package includes 4% raises for paraprofessionals and auxiliary staff, and 2% raises for teachers and administrators. The package includes a December bonus of $500.
The state of Texas allots funding to school districts based on average daily attendance, meaning school districts such as Midway lose funding when enrollment declines. In the past two years, enrollment has fallen from 8,828 to 8,720, or by 108.
In the meantime, the state’s per-student allotment has not kept up with inflation for several years.
Midway ISD is aiming to rebuild enrollment by eliminating its $1,000 fee to transfer from other schools and offering a new virtual school option to homeschoolers and students from other districts. The district has received more than 250 transfer applications as of Friday and 100 applications for virtual school, which also counts toward per-student state funds.
“The largest portion of our transfers in are at secondary-level, middle and high school,” Parks said. “So that’s really promising a lot of it, and that’s due to the opportunities in the programs that we have that folks want to come here and have those opportunities for their kids.”
The adopted budget is based on an anticipated tax rate of 88.37 cents per $100 valuation, down from 93.69 cents per $100. The board will vote on the tax rate in August.
