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The 1.6 billion dollar budget for the new fiscal year reflects an anticipated 79 million dollar loss in state funding. That means many Houston students will see larger classes in the coming school year, along with cuts in some programs.
But board president Paula Harris points out that the original projected shortfall was around 160 million.
“We’re still not made whole, but we are not as bad as we were when we started looking at this thing.”
Cuts in HISD’s budget amount to about 96 million dollars, more than what’s needed to cover the expected shortfall. The district says it may need that extra money to make up for another shortfall in 2012.
The new budget does not include an increase in property taxes.
