Lewisville ISD continues to struggle with funding instability after a budget presentation revealed an expected decrease in attendance that could cost the district around $18 million.
According to the presentation, which was given at LISD’s Board of Trustees work session on Monday, the district expects its enrollment to decrease from 46,426 to 45,038 from fiscal year 26 to fiscal year 27.
In addition, the district’s average daily attendance is expected to fall from 43,329 to 41,885 in the same amount of time, which is what will cost the district millions.
“Because state funding is linked to attendance, we’re projecting a decrease of approximately $7.7 million dollars in state funding,” said LISD Budget Director Claudia Orta.
The attendance difference will come from smaller incoming Kindergarten classes not being able to fill spots left by graduating classes.
She also said the difference in tax collections for FY27 is expected to be $18,552,819 less.
According to Orta, that deficit is due to the district’s expiring “disaster pennies,” which is funding provided to districts to help offset costs from a disaster.
Due to a storm disaster declared in Denton County in May 2024, LISD adopted a tax rate increase of $0.04 as a result of the adoption of four disaster pennies that will expire after this year.
Combined, the district is expected to lose about $26,246,336 between the tax collection decrease and less state funding.
However, the district’s “Recapture” payment will be decreased by more than $8.3 million dollars.
According to Texas Policy Research, Recapture is a financial mechanism established under the Texas Education Code that requires property-wealthy school districts to share a portion of their local property tax revenue with the state. The state then redistributes these funds to property-poor districts to ensure a more equitable distribution of resources.
Following the addition of the $8.3 million to LISD’s projected FY27 budget, LISD will be the district is projected to lose a net total of $17,873,089.
“Our recapture payment will decrease due to lower tax collections, but the net impact is still significant,” said Orta.
Lewisville ISD Chief Financial Officer Scott Wrehe said the district will continue to look at areas where the district can reduce spending to address the $17 million funding loss.
According to Wrehe’s presentation, some areas the Program and Budget Review Committee identified for further examination include Fine Arts, Counseling and Athletics.
The district will also be looking at staff compensation and benefits in an effort to balance budget constraints with competitive pay.
Following the budget presentation, LISD Superintendent Dr. Lori Rapp instructed the Board of Trustees to focus on FY26 and legislation changes for now.
“You’ll have plenty more conversations about Fiscal Year 27, we’re just sharing information now,” she said. “There will be more to come, we’re just presenting that to get started on Fiscal Year 27.”
The budget struggles continue for LISD as the district was forced to shutter five elementary schools, one from each high school’s feeder pattern.
Lewisville ISD was also forced to transfer students from Mill Street Elementary and repurpose the campus into an early childhood center.
The move was made to avoid intervention from the Texas Education Agency after the campus received multiple “F” grades in state accountability ratings.
