Texas school finances are stretched.
Coppell is the latest district across the state to close a school because of a tight budget. A divided school board voted Monday to shutter its oldest campus, Pinkerton Elementary. They follow the lead of Richardson, Plano and Irving ISDs.
A confluence of factors made this year particularly challenging for many schools.
The Legislature hasn’t increased the base amount it gives districts on a per-student basis since 2019. Attempts to do so last year were ensnared in a political fight over education savings accounts, a voucherlike program that would send state dollars toward private school tuition.
Meanwhile, federal pandemic aid that funneled billions to public schools is expiring, while inflation has made everything from bus fuel to insurance more expensive. Birth rates are also steadily declining in some areas — and enrollment is down in several major North Texas districts.
Here’s a look at how these issues impact schools.
Enrollment drops
Texas funds its schools based on how many students come to class.
In many places, enrollment is declining for a variety of reasons. Some families are choosing other options for their kids — such as public charters, private schools or homeschooling.
They’re also being pushed out of places with high costs of living.
For example, of the nearly 3,000 students Richardson schools lost since 2018-19, roughly 90% lived in multifamily housing. More losses are projected.
Richardson served about 37,000 children last year. The student population is projected to decrease by about 3,600 students over the next five years, according to the district’s demographer report.
Dallas may be bucking the trend. The district started classes with more students than expected this year, marking the first time in nearly a decade that enrollment trended up.
In the 2014-15 school year, DISD had about 160,000 students. Now it has roughly 140,000.
While the overall enrollment of Texas public schools appears level, it doesn’t reflect the overall population growth in the state.
Declining birth rates
While families are moving to Texas, many areas are seeing declining birth rates.
Texas’ public school enrollment is projected to peak in 2025 as fewer children move through the system as a result of the decline, according to state documents.
For the next several years, enrollment is expected to remain essentially flat, Education Commissioner Mike Morath recently told lawmakers.
“The rapid growth of the student population that has characterized Texas for the better part of 30 years has stopped,” he said during an education committee hearing.
Coppell’s enrollment appears relatively flat in recent years at around 13,000 students.
So trustees were shocked to see projections showing about 550 fewer elementary school-aged children over the next three years. That’s larger than the student populations at several of its elementary schools.
Stagnant state funding
Texas’ schools are funded through a longstanding set of complex formulas.
That per-student amount sits at $6,160 – the same as it was in 2019.
With the costs of living rising, that doesn’t carry close to the same level of buying power.
Take Sunnyvale ISD. The tiny Dallas-area district paid just over $300,000 for property and casualty insurance in 2022. Now they’re bracing to pay more than half a million dollars.
Inflation impacts teachers and school staffs’ lives, too. So districts are under increased pressure to raise salaries, which make up the bulk of school budgets.
Plus, lawmakers instituted expensive mandates around security but didn’t provide enough money to cover the actual cost, administrators say.
When Coppell ISD leaders tried to explain their tight budget to families, they were clear the stagnant basic allotment was a driving factor.
“CISD would need a $1,000 – $1,200 increase in the basic allotment to keep up with inflation,” they wrote.
Expiring pandemic aid
Texas schools received more than $19 billion in federal pandemic aid. But that money is expiring, a reality many refer to as the “COVID cliff.”
Some districts used the funds to pay for staff positions and are now having to cut back.
In Richardson ISD, for example, the end of COVID relief funding means interventionists – who help small groups of children catch up in reading and math – now only work at the 12 highest-need campuses instead of at all the district’s roughly three dozen elementaries.
Garland used the money to hire retention specialists who’d make home visits if a kid didn’t show up to class. They’d visit local businesses during school hours looking for students.
Most of that work now falls back to campus leaders.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.