Austin Independent School District (AISD) is working to address a $110 million budget deficit. An independent audit recently conducted on AISD's spending has pinpointed several opportunities for potential cost-savings that district leaders are exploring further.
The audit report outlined potential savings of $63.1 million, although these figures are preliminary and require further analysis for accuracy. The audit's main cost-saving measure involves the consolidation of schools. This suggestion identified 49 schools with smaller populations that might be candidates for closure. However, the schools were chosen based on benchmarks that were not well-defined, leading district officials to consider this number unrealistic.
The district's strategy moving forward is to evaluate how school closures could effectively reduce expenditures and the budget deficit. Other areas highlighted for cost-savings include the disposal of portable classrooms, cost recovery from nutrition services, optimizing master scheduling, and reducing senior management positions.
Superintendent Matias Segura commented, "All the other opportunities besides school consolidation are things we’ve worked on and progressed already. We have put a considerable amount of time and energy into how to (implement these cost-savings) and how to do it well."
As AISD works towards balancing its budget, district leaders will collaborate with the community to establish a process for evaluating potential school consolidations. This process aims to identify candidate campuses and define the criteria for consolidation decisions.
The district committed to keeping the community informed as the budget process continues to develop.