The Austin school district will have $1.65-billion in expenses next year and the school board has approved the new budget, but the tax rate won’t be set until September.
The new budget will force the district to dig deep into its reserves to cover a near-$48-million-dollar deficit. Superintendent Paul Cruz said COVID-19 has been very costly, “…purchased additional chromebooks, iPads, and also hotspots. You know the investments around covid that are essential.” $33-million will be spent just on COVID mitigation and remote learning tools.
2% pay raises are included in the budget. As for campus police, there are plenty of calls for defunding them in AISD, but the board actually went in the opposite direction and increased the police budget by $250,000
