Cypress, Faubion and Steiner Ranch Elementary families spoke against closing its schools at the Sept. 9 board workshop meeting. (Brittany Anderson/Community Impact)
The Leander ISD board of trustees is deciding whether it will close some of its elementary schools or implement other cost-saving measures.
The board held a special workshop meeting Sept. 9 to discuss the district's future budget shortfalls and long-range planning efforts.
The background
Chief Operations Officer Jeremy Trimble first presented three potential optimization actions during the May 29 board meeting which included closing and repurposing Cypress, Faubion and Steiner Ranch Elementary schools, updating staffing numbers at underenrolled campuses, or a hybrid of the two.
Officials say the three campuses are slated to reach under 60% utilization in the coming years and cited an overall decline in enrollment in the south part of the district, chronic underfunding from the state, and space needed for some district programs.
Public input
Hundreds of parents, students, staff and community members have voiced concerns with how district officials have calculated functional capacity, projected enrollment and other data.
According to Chief Communications Officer Crestina Hardie, community engagement efforts have included:The way LISD calculates functional capacity changed in 2024 as part of rezoning for Hisle Elementary, Trimble said.
LISD had previously been figuring capacity on a case-by-case basis on every campus, which was "causing a lot of confusion," thinkSMART Planning consultant Molly Smith said.
Capacity is based on the number of rooms originally intended to be classrooms and takes into account the intended teacher-to-pupil ratio and actual campus enrollment.
LISD is seeing a trend of several LISD schools dropping below 60% utilization, Smith said, and every square foot kept open costs about $5 per square foot each year.
"For every campus that you keep open that isn't working efficiently, you are going to be hurting someone from the north that is becoming overfilled," Smith said.
However, savings would only be attained if LISD were to demolish or sell a closed campus, Smith said.
The projections
Current budget projections show a $22.8 million budget shortfall in 2026-27, a $29.3 million shortfall in 2027-28 and a $32.3 million shortfall in 2028-29.
The 2026-27 projection does not include any staff raises, which Superintendent Bruce Gearing said is "unsustainable" going forward.
LISD also lost $10.5 million in hold harmless funding as an "unintended consequence" of House Bill 2 and is one of 10 school districts impacted, Pape said, although state leaders are looking into this.
Managing the impact
LISD still has three copper pennies available which could reduce the district's budget shortfall by $6.8 million, Gearing said. Copper pennies help districts generate additional revenue by increasing the tax rate, but millions of dollars generated are recaptured by the state.
Utilizing these pennies also requires a voter-approval tax rate election, or VATRE. If LISD moves forward with this option, a VATRE would be placed on the ballot next November and would increase the tax rate by 3 cents.
However, LISD is one school district that qualifies for "disaster pennies" as a result of the July 4 flooding. A VATRE would still be held, but LISD would be able to utilize the pennies for the 2026-27 school year even if it didn't pass. If the VATRE passes, the $6.8 million in savings would continue beyond 2026-27.
Gearing discussed other potential revenue streams, including:If the district does not implement any of these options other considerations would have to be made, which could include cutting upward of 200 staff -- which Gearing said would start with central administration -- and consider changes to block scheduling, fine arts and athletics, QUEST, ESL, the middle school dual language program, and teacher Personal Learning Community periods.
"These are very, very difficult conversations to contemplate because we know without a doubt that they're going to have an impact on [the student experience,]" Gearing said.
Next steps
The board will further discuss the options at the Sept. 18 board meeting and could vote on the optimization actions Oct. 9.