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Spring Branch Independent School District leaders will cut 215 more positions ahead of the 2024-25 school year, officially making good on its goal of slashing $35 million from its budget.
The cuts, announced Friday afternoon, will span from the campus to administrative level, impacting librarians, counseling and academic support staff, among other positions. The cuts total over $22.5 million, the largest slash since district leaders began addressing its shortfall in October.
Of the reductions, 71 will come from the campus level, while 144 will come from SBISD’s central office. As of Friday afternoon, district leaders did not respond to a request for comment to detail how many employees will be terminated in each position.
Superintendent Jennifer Blaine said in a statement that they aimed to make cuts “without fully eliminating (the) impacted services” — suggesting that campuses will still employ some librarians, counseling and athletic training staff, among other positions impacted.
Campus leaders will also work with less funding, as the district will reduce schools’ operating budgets.
Our coverage of Spring Branch ISD
- ‘Hurts my Hispanic people’: As Spring Branch ISD unveils budget cuts, community fears impact
- Spring Branch ISD is outlining $35 million in budget cuts. Here’s how they’ll impact students.
- Spring Branch ISD trustees vote to close schools over student, family objections
“As valued and important members of the Spring Branch Family, we have informed (affected employees) at this early point in the spring semester to provide maximum opportunities for them to find other roles in the system or beyond,” Blaine wrote in a statement. “We have done everything we can to minimize direct impact on our classrooms and student learning. However, with the magnitude of reductions and adjustments required, all schools will be impacted.”
Spring Branch leaders began unveiling its plans in late October with the intention of completing the cuts ahead of the 2024-25 school year. In December, trustees voted to close several majority-Hispanic schools and discontinue some charter programs, a decision that divided community members who fear underserved portions of the community will be disproportionately impacted by the reductions.
Spring Branch trustees have repeatedly blamed state lawmakers for the cuts after the legislature declined to allocate more funding to public schools as districts face inflationary pressures.
“When we think about where to place the blame on very difficult budget conversations that nobody wants to have, it shouldn’t be with the seven people sitting here, and quite frankly it shouldn’t be me either,” Blaine said at a late October board meeting. “You should be talking to our governor and state leaders about the state of education and their unwillingness to fund it.”
Spring Branch ISD’s budget cuts
Phase 1 and 2: $12,417,858 and 91 jobs
- Close Treasure Forest Elementary and Panda Path School
- Adjust pre-Kindergarten boundaries
- Pause bond programs, impacting projects at Sherwood, Spring Shadows, Thornwood and Terrace elementaries
- Increase the high school student-to-teacher staffing ratio
- Align all high schools on a seven-period schedule
- Increase pre-K tuition
- Discontinue 3 charter school partnerships
- Restructure SPIRAL program, no longer offer at Bendwood Elementary
Phase 3: $22,584,525 and 215 jobs
- Cut academic instructional support staff, such as learning specialists
- Cut various central office staff, such as HR and community engagement employees
- Reduce central office operating budgets
- Reduce and restructure counseling programs in elementary and middle schools
- Reduce and restructure library services
- Reduce and restructure athletic training staff
- Reduce campus operating budgets
Total: $35,002,383 and 306 jobs
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