The Coppell ISD Board of Trustees analyzed prospective routes to address the district-wide budget shortage during its meeting on Monday night.
With the 2024-2025 school year coming to an end, chief financial officer Diana Sircar provided an assumption on what the money expenditures will look like in the upcoming school years.
“Our current budget model is predicting a decrease in our fund balance of about $12 million,” Sircar said. “If we do nothing to change our expense rate of our budget and we allow our budget to be as it is, it will put the district in a very tight cash position by the 2027-2028 school year.”
Sircar compared CISD’s financial initiatives and nearby districts.
“Many districts around the area are also struggling with deficit budgets,” Sircar said. “Some decided to take action in one fiscal year.”
However, Sircar attested to how size plays a role in how a district is able to tackle budgeting. Larger districts can find ways to reduce financial issues at a quicker pace than districts the size of Coppell.
CISD’s position with a lower enrollment rate will halt it from adjusting desired district initiatives, such as pay raises for district staff.
“As of now, without any funding from the state, this district cannot afford a salary increase,” Sircar said. “Eating into the budget more will dig the hole deeper. We really need the funding from the state in order to pass that increase.”
The Board has a workshop on May 12 to lay out budgeting plans.
In addition to budgeting planning, the Board was presented with the proposition of remodeling New Tech High @ Coppell.
“The scope of the rebranding work includes several key components,” chief communication officer Angela Brown said. “We first launched an engagement process to gain valuable insight from our audiences.”
The survey was sent out to New Tech staff, alumni, parents and students.
“Input has been critical in shaping our direction in identifying the values of our community for the future of new tech,” Brown said. “A critical component of this process is the creation of a new identity, an updated logo and a name that aligns with the school’s values.”
Survey-respondents proposed the idea of making New Tech more accessible to in-coming high schoolers and also to include both English and Spanish classes to ensure inclusivity.
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