Pflugerville ISD projects $10.9M year‑end shortfall, lays out $44M three‑year savings plan and asks trustees to pick remaining cuts

The Pflugerville Independent School District’s finance team told the board on June 18 that district actions already identified about $42 million of a planned $44 million in multi‑year reductions, leaving roughly $1–2 million yet to find.

CFO Jennifer Land described proposed current‑year amendments that in sum "increase our projected deficit by approximately $7,600,000 and that results in an estimated year end deficit of 10,900,000." For 2026–27 the administration presented a proposed general fund budget that uses a working tax‑rate estimate to show roughly $296.8 million in revenue against $311.4 million in expenditures — a projected $15.6 million shortfall (the presentation noted the final tax rate will be set after certified property values are received).

Land said the four elementary consolidations approved May 14 are expected to produce about $9.8 million in recurring savings beginning in 2027–28, and administrative actions already carried into the coming year generated roughly $6.0 million in recurring savings. Taken together with other steps, those items reach about $42 million of the district’s $44 million goal; the remaining $1–2 million depends on timing and which path trustees prefer.

Superintendent Dr. Olivares presented two illustrative options for closing the remainder: Path A would emphasize continued personnel and program reductions (examples shown included modest cuts to discretionary athletics and fine arts budgets and reductions in central office positions); Path B would pursue further campus consolidations (examples cited closing a middle school for roughly $2.1M in savings or an additional elementary for roughly $2.5M). Staff stressed these were examples, not formal recommendations.

Trustees asked for more detail before committing to any additional cuts. Several trustees said they will not support eliminating counselors or assistant principals; others said middle‑school consolidation must be considered because it offers larger recurring savings. Multiple trustees asked staff to return with industry‑standard, third‑party audit and feasibility proposals to examine facility capacity, special‑education impacts and demographic projections, plus clear timelines for community engagement and the boundary work that will be required if consolidation is pursued.

No budget adoption votes took place at the meeting; the hearing on the proposed budget was informational and the board closed the public hearing after staff’s presentation. The board did approve consent agenda items (the consent motion was amended to remove item P for separate consideration) and later approved a Hellas Construction turf bid for Hendrickson and Weiss high‑school fields (item 7P) by recorded votes of 7‑0.

Staff returned the board to closed session for a triennial safety/security audit discussion and real property matters before adjourning. Trustees asked that follow‑up materials and any proposed audit scopes be distributed at least three days before the next scheduled meeting.