LEAGUE CITY — Clear Creek public school district whittled down a projected budget shortfall from $13.5 million to $1.25 million, thanks to a boost in state revenue approved by legislators this session.
The district trimmed the shortfall by postponing filling new positions, asking officials in all administration departments to trim their budgets by as much as 10 percent and switching all high schools to a seven-period day instead of block scheduling. Clear Brook, Clear Springs and Clear Creek high schools no longer will have block scheduling.
Schools with seven-period days cost less to operate because fewer teachers are needed, spokeswoman Elaina Polsen said. Instead of laying off teachers, district shifted teachers to schools opening in the fall, she said. While the district typically hires 300 new teachers a year, it hired only 180 teachers this year, Polsen said.
The district also was able to give a 3 percent raise to all district employees, thanks to a $5 million boost, or $120 per student, in state revenue and $1.5 million in federal stimulus money for special education and other programs.
Of the $5 million from the state, financed from federal stimulus funds, most of it must be used for teacher pay raises mandated by House Bill 3646, approved by legislators this summer. House Bill 3646 required Clear Creek public school district to raise the salaries of professional employees such as teachers, librarians and counselors, by $800 a year.
The U.S. Department of Education approved the state’s plan to use the stimulus money to finance teacher pay raises, but districts are fretting how the state will finance the mandated pay raises once the stimulus funds run out in two years.
While Clear Creek public school district appreciated the $5 million boost from the state, House Bill 3646 was a Band-Aid fix to school finance, Polsen said. She said the district would continue to push state legislators to fix a funding formula that has caused trouble for districts across the state since it was enacted in 2006.
Officials with the county’s largest school district had fretted earlier this year that they would be forced to dip into a savings account, delay maintenance projects or ask voters for a tax increase of as much as 7 cents per $100 valuation to correct the multimillion shortfall if legislators did nothing to overhaul school finance.
The district now is proposing a tax rate of $1.36 per $100 valuation, the same rate it levied last year. The district will hold a public hearing about the tax rate at 6 p.m. Aug. 24.
The $1.25 million shortfall could diminish before trustees approve the budget in late August. If not, trustees likely will dip into the district’s $16 million capital fund to make up the difference. The district uses the capital fund to finance regular maintenance at its 40 buildings.
