In an exclusive interview with FortBendNow, Fort Bend Independent School District Board of Trustees President Bob Broxson recently discussed the past, present and possible future of the district’s finances.
Broxson has been on the board for the past three years, which included the district’s first deficit budget. The deficit has increased each year since.
Many FBISD administrators and local officials have been as vocal as Broxson in the opinion that the district’s financial troubles are due to underfunding by the state, and Broxson points to other comparable districts that receive more money per student than FBISD.
Broxson said the current funding formula “very much” disadvantaged the district, which receives about $4,871 per student. In comparison, Conroe ISD received $5,103, Katy ISD received $5,207, Northside ISD $5,055 and Plano ISD about $5,350.
“It is such a low level compared to our peers that we don’t have enough to deal with an increased cost associated with more students,” said Broxson. The increased cost includes new buildings, more staff and increased transportation costs. “It has to do with when our growth occurred. They looked at it at one particular point in time. They have basically frozen us at 2006 levels.”
Broxson said that while the district has seen no new revenue for the past three years, the State Legislature has continued to pass legislation that costs the district. Last year, the district was required by the state to give certain staff, including librarians and nurses, raises, which he said left the district with no new revenue.
“When you add all those numbers up, when we ended up with basically an $18 million shortfall for this current year,” said Broxson. “Then next year, based on recent budget workshops, it looks like we are going to see $21.5 million (deficit).”
Broxson said many in the community have suggested the district cut the superintendent’s pay, whose base salary is $254,616, or reduce administration. Broxson disagrees, and said he thinks the district has been “really cautious” in not expanding the administration.
“The state standard for administrative cost in a budget is 11 percent,” said Broxson. “And we are at like 5.5 percent.”
He also said that Superintendent Timothy Jenney’s salary is “right in the middle of the pack.”
Broxson also discussed the difficulty of cutting a budget that is 88 percent payroll.
“When you look at what we are trying to do, if we are going to get a balanced budget, you have to save employee costs,” said Broxson. “We have already cut our programs over the past two years by 10 percent across the board.”
Broxson said cutting 10 percent more into the programs would be “cutting into the bone.”
“It’s just a very difficult situation,” said Broxson.
Later this week, FortBendNow will publish an article with Broxson addressing the effect of the 2007 $428 million bond referendum.
