MFISD staff cuts to make up for $2.4M budget shortfall

The Marble Falls Independent School District is cutting 35-40 staff positions to accommodate a $2.4 million budget deficit. The major shortfall is connected to the failure of the voter-approved tax rate election in November 2024 and stagnant funding from the state.

According to Superintendent Dr. Jeff Gasaway, MFISD will eliminate the jobs after the end of the 2024-25 academic year. 

The cuts are districtwide, from secretaries to district administrators and roughly 20 teachers, and all will be felt, Gasaway said.

“Every staff member that we’re (letting go), they’re needed,” he told DailyTrib.com on Monday, March 31. “We do not have additional staff, contrary to what anybody might think. These are gonna be staff and staffing needs that will impact our students, that will impact our teachers, that will impact our culture and campuses.”

MFISD is the largest employer in Burnet County with about 700 employees serving 4,000 students at seven campuses across a 268-square-mile coverage area. The cuts represent 5 percent to 5.7 percent of the school district’s workforce, with salaries and benefits coming out to around $2.4 million. MFISD teachers make about $50,000 to $67,000 a year, based on experience. The amount that would be saved by eliminating the jobs is around 3.7 percent of the district’s $64.6 million budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. 

MFISD sent $14.4 million of its budget back to the state in the form of recapture, better known as “Robin Hood.” These recaptured funds from property-rich Texas public school districts go toward supporting districts with lower property values.

WHY THE CUTS?

Gasaway explained that MFISD was in a tight spot financially when developing its 2024-25 budget due to frozen funding from the Texas Legislature. State lawmakers, who meet every two years, are responsible for setting the annual student allotment, which determines the amount of funding per student a district gets from the state. That number, $6,160, has been the same since 2019. The annual student allotment is the primary funding source for Texas public schools.

In the almost six years since the annual student allotment was last set, consumer price index inflation in the United States has skyrocketed by 27 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Under these conditions, Texas’ annual student allotment would have to be $7,823.20 in 2025 to hold the same value it did in 2019.

With state funding stagnant and costs increasing, MFISD intentionally adopted a $1 million deficit in its budget and pitched a voter-approved tax rate election (VATRE) to district voters in the November 2024 general election. District staff, which typically see a 4-percent-a-year raise, got a 1 percent raise instead in FY 2024-25. Even with the cuts and reduced raises, the district’s budget was still about $2.2 million short.

The VATRE asked voters whether or not they wished to adopt a tax rate increase of 2.67 cents per $100 property valuation, which would have raised an additional $2.2 million for 2024-25 and helped curb the rising cost of doing business. The increase would have been about $8.90 a month on a home worth $400,000, and seniors 65 years and older would have been exempt.

MFISD residents voted “no” at the polls, 54.32 percent to 45.68 percent.

Superintendent Gasaway and his team held 35 public meetings leading up to the November vote and created a website to educate voters on the VATRE. Part of the superintendent’s messaging was the likelihood of staffing and program cuts if the tax rate did not pass.

“The goal of our district is to be fiscally responsible,” he told DailyTrib.com. “This puts us in a really good position to honor what the community said by not passing the VATRE.”

FINANCES EXPLAINED

Gasaway pointed out that the failed VATRE and a $172.2 million school bond election set for this May are not related. The bond package would overhaul aging school infrastructure and upgrade facilities to accommodate present and future growth in the district.

“The complexities of public education funding are numerous, it’s not simple,” he said.
MFISD’s total tax rate is 89 cents per $100 property valuation, but that is split between a 67-cent maintenance and operations (M&O) tax rate and a 22-cent interest and sinking (I&S) tax rate. 

For perspective, MFISD’s rate is similar to that of the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District, which is 87 cents per $100 property valuation, and Johnson City ISD’s rate of 86 cents. It is well above Llano ISD’s 78 cents but far below the $1.01 rate for Lampasas and Lago Vista ISDs, $1.07 for Lake Travis ISD, and $1.10 for Leander ISD.

Funds raised by the M&O portion of MFISD’s tax rate can only be used for the district’s daily needs, like paying staff salaries, classroom supplies, utilities, and bus services.

Funds raised by the I&S portion of the tax rate can only be used to pay off debts, such as those accrued from voter-approved bonds for things like buildings, renovations, or land and equipment purchases.

The VATRE would have specifically increased the M&O tax rate, and therefore could only be used to pay for the district’s day-to-day expenses.

The $172.2 million bond on the May 3 ballot would be entirely taken care of by the current 22-cent I&S tax rate, meaning it would not result in a tax rate increase. But this money could not be used to pay salaries or benefits, which fall under M&O standards.

The district is in limbo until the current Texas Legislature makes a decision on the annual student allotment going into the next budget cycle. The 89th legislative session ends in June.

“The state of Texas needs to recognize that there is a real challenge ahead of us to make public schools strong,” Gasaway said. “We need our state leadership to understand that there is no more noble profession than teaching. Every single person, unless they are homeschooled and they are being taught by their parents, is going to come in contact with a teacher that is going to have a chance to make a difference in the life of that student.”

Even if the Legislature increases the annual student allotment, Gasaway said MFISD will prioritize staff raises and affordable healthcare and maintain student meal programs with the incoming money rather than immediately refilling eliminated positions.

IMPACTS FROM THE CUTS

According to Gasaway, teachers, students, and parents will likely bear the brunt of the staffing cuts.

“Our parents and those that we serve are accustomed to a quick, responsive school district,” he said. “I don’t think that we are going to be unresponsive in any way, shape, or form, but it will look different, it will feel different. Kids have had a lot of support, and some of those supports won’t be there.”

One major change for teachers will be the removal of a professional development period from the workday. Teachers have traditionally had time to develop lesson plans and coordinate with other staff during this time. With 20 or more teachers being let go, the remaining staff will now have to take on an additional class session during the development period.

Class sizes also might be impacted, in some cases potentially going up by one or two students in Marble Falls Middle School and Marble Falls High School classrooms.

“It’s frustrating,” said Kevin Naumann, president of the MFISD Board of Trustees, at a March 24 meeting.

Gasaway announced the job eliminations during the meeting after a bleak financial presentation from MFISD Chief Financial Officer Bill Orr, which can be found on the district’s YouTube channel.

“It’s not good for kids, it’s not good for the community, it’s not good for teachers, it’s not good for morale, but it’s also that we’ve been backed into a corner,” Naumann continued. “I don’t see any other way around because we can’t continue to sustain a 2-point-whatever-million-dollar deficit every year.”

dakota@thepicayune.com