The Courier of Montgomery County reports that following Conroe ISD’s adoption of the district’s 2025 budget– which has a shortfall of $12 million the board says is because of a lack of funding– board members will now work on putting together a list of legislative priorities.
Back in August the Board approved its $711.97 million budget. Employee raises were not included. The district has not looked at creating legislative priorities before.
Trustee Stacey Chase said it was “imperative” to discuss these issues. She said their deficit budget is directly linked to the absence of the state moving forward on increases in funding. She suggested acting on this issue now.
Chase says that what is “critical” is changing the state funding from average daily attendance to enrollment-based.
Chief Financial Officer Karen Garza said the average Conroe ISD daily attendance is 92.5%. There are over 74,000 students in the district’s schools.
Special education funding is another priority for the district. Chase said, the cost to give these students what they need “dramatically outpaces” what the state provides. With a 2025 payroll of $10.8 million, the district added 147 full-time equivalent faculty. Half of that amount will pay for supporting special education.
Chase also said more emphasis is needed to be place on students’ outcomes. She wanted less focus on the STAAR test and more on funding from the state for digital learning resources, mental health services and school and student safety.
The 89th legislative session begins in Austin in January, and the board has not come to a decision on who will represent the district.
