Houston ISD Plans to Cut $26 Million from Campuses Mid-Pandemic

HISD announced at its last budget workshop that it plans to cut campus budgets by $123 for each student enrolled. This adds up to over $26 million cut from campuses. The cut will be on top of any cuts a campus has due to decreased enrollment from the pandemic.

Campuses will have fewer teachers and staff just when we need them. We need MORE teacher to help students catch up from the pandemic. A campus the size of Bellaire High School stands to loose a half million dollars. There is no way that campuses can cover this level of cut without cutting teachers and staff.

HISD has an overall budget size of about $2 Billion dollars with over just 59% going to instruction.(Much lower than surrounding districts.)

Is cutting teachers and staff in the middle of the pandemic the best decision by HISD administration?