Midland ISD Adopts Budget for 2025-26 Fiscal Year

Midland ISD Adopts Budget for 2025-26 Fiscal Year

New budget addresses 89th Legislative Session

June 24, 2025 – The Midland ISD Board of Trustees approved the 2025–26 budget during Tuesday night’s regular meeting, moving forward with a plan shaped by months of thoughtful planning, strategic efficiencies, and a clear focus on what matters most—student outcomes.

The approved budget reflects the realities of continued statewide funding challenges and the expiration of the Formula Transition Grant. Despite these constraints, district leaders worked diligently to keep students at the center of every decision, ensuring learning environments remain strong and support systems stay in place.

“This budget reflects the challenging financial realities we continue to face as a district,” said Chief Financial Officer Tucker Durham. “While we had to make some tough decisions, we remained focused on prioritizing classrooms and maintaining the high-quality instruction our students deserve.”

The district began its future budget planning in 2020, recognizing early on that the end of state-provided hold-harmless funding—known as the Formula Transition Grant—would create a financial cliff in 2024–25. That grant, created during the 86th Legislative Session in 2019, was designed to give districts time to adjust to a new school finance formula. For MISD, it meant five years of critical revenue that helped support operations. With that support now gone, the district planned to navigate the shortfall responsibly.

“This work didn’t happen overnight,” said Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Howard. “Over the past year, we have taken a close look at every department, every program, and every dollar. We asked hard questions and made strategic choices to ensure we are investing in what works. I am proud of our team’s commitment to doing what’s right for students—both now and in the long run.”

Over the course of eight months, district leaders reviewed all departments and services—payroll and non-payroll alike—to assess their effectiveness and impact. Through attrition, reorganization of teams, and consolidation of efforts where appropriate, MISD was able to reduce overall costs by approximately $35 million. These reductions came without sacrificing student opportunities or academic goals.

The budget includes a $7.89 million deficit for the 2025–26 fiscal year, which is significantly  reduced compared to  last year’s deficit. The board recently updated its policy to allow for a deficit of up to 4% of projected revenue, giving the district flexibility to adjust to new legislation and funding streams as they take shape. The goal is to have a fully balanced budget for the 2026–27 fiscal year.

Part of that funding outlook improved thanks to House Bill 2, passed earlier this year by the 89th Texas Legislature. The bill provides an $8.5 billion boost to public education, including targeted salary increases for classroom teachers of record. Under the law, eligible teachers with 3–4 years of experience will receive a $2,500 raise, while those with 5 or more years will receive $5,000. 

Additionally, MISD’s budget includes a 2% general pay increase for staff in Instructional Support, Auxiliary, Technology, Clerical, Child Nutrition Services, and the Police Department. Administrative/Professional employees will receive a 1% increase. These raises are based on the midpoint of each pay range.

The district is also keeping a close eye on Senate Bill 2, which establishes a statewide voucher program starting in the 2026–27 school year. That law could impact public school enrollment and funding, and MISD leaders are preparing for what that might mean locally.

“I appreciate my fellow board members working diligently with Dr. Howard and her team to reduce our deficit budget in a challenging economic environment specific to Midland, and we appreciate the complex decisions required for developing a long-term financial strategy that gets us to a balanced budget even though we face serious headwinds due to the lack of foresight by our state legislature and the continuation of unfunded mandates veiled as an increase to funding our public school programs,” said Board President Brandon W. Hodges.

As MISD moves into the new fiscal year, the district will continue to refine systems, seek additional funding sources, and keep MISD families informed.

###

Media Contact: 

Andrea Messick

Chief Communications Officer

communications@midlandisd.net

All students will graduate college, career, or military ready.

Midland ISD | 615 W. Missouri Avenue | Midland, TX 79701 US