AUSTIN, Texas — For Austin resident Chandlyr Cohrs, public education was crucial for her development.
"It kind of puts you in situations and you hear different things from people involved in different things that, let's say, private schools can't afford to get you in. I think public schools, definitely, it was a prime time for me and I think it helped me a lot evolve as a person," Cohrs said. "The kids are our future, and it's going to be us in 30 years waiting for them to make decisions for us."
However, public school districts like Austin ISD could be left with a lack of school funding. If AISD spends the same amount of money as it did in 2023, the district could face a potential $60 million deficit, with costs like energy, fuel and insurance increasing by roughly 17% since the last time the state increased funding.
Education Austin's Ken Zarifis said the lack of funding is a problem.
"When a state refuses to pay for public education and one legislative session after another refuses to invest in our kids, it's on us here locally to invest in our kids," Zarifis said.
Trustees are considering alternative options to bring more funding in, including possibly calling for a tax ratification election that would ask voters to approve a tax rate increase.
Dr. Jacob Reach of AISD's Chief of Governmental Relations & Board Services broke down how taxpayers could be impacted.
"So it would be an increase of about 9.1 cents to their current tax value. And of course, the tax value fluctuates now because we're under tax compression which changes tax values for school districts, but this would be on top of what our current tax value is," Reach said. "So a TRE [tax ratification election] would bring in about $45 million per year to the district by adding in those additional pennies."
It is a little bit that Reach said could potentially go a long way.
"We still need to account for those rising costs, account for ensuring that we're compensating our staff fairly and that we're giving students the programs and the materials and the opportunities that they need to be successful in the classroom," Reach said.
The board will discuss budget options at its next convenience, and a preliminary budget will be brought to the board on April 4.