School officials have called a community-wide Town Hall meeting on the district's financial situation Tuesday, November 1 at 7 p.m. The meeting will take place at the district's 9/10 campus - Carroll High School, 800 White Chapel Boulevard.
At this November 1 meeting, school officials will present a brief overview of the district's financial shortfall, including an explanation of how Trustees balanced this year's budget, how much the district is losing in state funding next year and the options being studied for balancing future budgets. The event is open to all taxpayers, parents and school employees.
"We are also in the process of meeting face-to-face with a number of parent groups, community organizations and with the staff at each of our campuses to present an update on our financial situation and walk everyone through the options for balancing the budget," said Superintendent David Faltys. "The Board did a great job getting us through this budget cycle, but we want to get input from our employees, taxpayers and parents before moving forward to address next year's shortfall."
Dr. Faltys said the Administration worked through the 2009-2011 Expenditure Reduction Plan, cutting about $3 million from the district's operating budget. Still, the new finance bill approved by the 82 Texas Legislature resulted in an $8 million funding loss over the next biennium. The Board used federal Edujobs dollars, energy grant monies and reoccurring Build America Bond subsidies to cover the first $3 million shortfall, but they now face another $5 million loss in the 2012-2013 budget.
School officials surveyed the public in the fall of 2010 about the budget-cutting options being considered, but because the financial outlook has changed, they want to resurvey the public to see if their opinions or ideas have changed since the 82 Texas Legislature met and approved the finance bill.
School officials say an online survey will be made available to parents, employees and taxpayers beginning November 1 and lasting right up until just before midnight Friday, November 18. The survey link will be emailed privately to employees and parents of current children. Taxpayers without children enrolled in CISD can request a survey link by email. Once the survey results are shared with Trustees on December 5, the Board will have about two months to finalize decisions that could affect scheduling, programs and personnel.
The public will soon be able to access the presentation and materials on CarrollBudget.com. School officials say the website should become operational October 24, but will be continually updated throughout the next few months.