Mansfield ISD school board member Michelle Newsom believes the district did what it could as it pushed the Texas Legislature to boost public school funding.
Though districts received a slight funding bump, it was not enough for Mansfield ISD to avoid adopting a $13 million deficit on an over $400 million general fund budget.
The deficit is the largest the district has adopted since at least the 2015-16 school year, according to district documents.
“I feel I can say we all reached out and spoke to legislators multiple times,” board Vice President Michelle Newsom said. “I would beg to say hundreds of emails and phone calls and even trips to the Capitol. I’m hoping this is something we continue to work on and continue to fight for.”
Michele Trongaard, the district’s associate superintendent of business and finance, said that around $6 million of the deficit is for turf and track improvements that did not pass in the May 2024 Mansfield ISD bond election.
Trongaard said the need to pay for the improvements from the general fund was not expected, but that it had to be done.
The school board also approved raises for employees who do not fall under the state’s new teacher pay bump law.
Employees, excluding administrators and campus principals, will receive a 3% midpoint raise funded through approximately $1.3 million in new state funding, and the district will absorb the rest through the budget, Trongaard said.
The district will spend an estimated $21 million in total on these new raises, $840,000 of which will go to a $25 per employee increase in health care contributions, Trongaard said.
“This doesn’t necessarily feel good, feeling a deficit budget, but we want to make sure that we prioritize our teachers and educators and bus drivers and janitors and cafeteria workers,” Newsom said.
Newly elected board member Ana-Alicia Horn said she was glad the district will receive more state funding, but that the board’s hands were tied on how they could spend it.
“Most of the funds released from the legislative session, while we are grateful for them, they’re extremely earmarked,” Horn said. “It just does not give us the flexibility to address specific needs in our district.”
Chris Moss is a reporting fellow for the Arlington Report. Contact him at chris.moss@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Related
Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.
Republish This Story
Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details.