BRENHAM SCHOOL BOARD OUTLINES BUDGET PRIORITIES IN WORKSHOP
The Brenham School Board honed in on its goals for the next school year’s budget during its lead-off budget workshop today (Monday).
Trustees and district administrators met with representatives from the Region VI Education Service Center to talk about the core responsibilities the board carries when crafting budgets and to engage in a high-level discussion on how the district plans to approach the 2026-27 budget cycle.
Superintendent Clay Gillentine said the district is on a great trajectory with the new budget, following last year’s passage of the Voter Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) and bond election. He said the money freed up from operating funds can go toward protecting and replenishing the fund balance, bringing back key personnel positions, and improving employee compensation.
Board President Jared Krenek said the district has worked very hard to fight back from the days of deficit budgets and staff attrition, and he believes those three priorities lay a strong foundation for the coming weeks and months of budget discussions.
Steve Pierce, Region VI ESC Deputy Director for Administrative Services, reminded trustees to keep in mind their roles of governance and financial stewardship, including duties such as crafting local policies and establishing attainable goals to strive for.
Chief Academic Officer Sara Borchgardt spoke on the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) program Brenham ISD applied for in spring 2025, which provides districts with systems and funding to recruit, retain and reward teachers in high-needs schools and difficult-to-staff positions. Borchgardt said the district’s application was approved last summer, and it has collected its first year of data to submit to the state in October. She said the state should send word back by February if Brenham ISD can begin designating teachers to receive funding in August 2027.
When asked about Brenham ISD’s tax rate and what the maximum compressed rate might look like, Chief Financial Officer Darrell St. Clair said tax rate compression will depend on property value growth from last year to this year, as well as the state’s minimum compression. He hopes the Texas Education Agency will soon release its template for the preliminary maximum compressed rate, but he does not suspect there will be much compression, as historically the second year of the legislative biennium does not have much compression.
St. Clair also discussed where Brenham ISD’s fund balance sits, saying the minimum range for a healthy fund balance is two to three months of operating expenses, or about 17 – 25 percent of the annual operating budget. After falling to less than a month, or 7 percent, at the end of the 2023-24 school year, he said the district has climbed back to roughly a month and a third, or 11 percent. He said the district has made noticeable gains, but it needs to be deliberate in planning to add money back into its fund balance for at least the next several years in order to get back into the healthy range.