TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple Independent School District Board of Trustees has approved a balanced budget for the district for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. The budget was approved at a board meeting Tuesday evening (June 30).
Temple ISD passed its first deficit budget in the 2023-2024 school year and was transparent about the funding shortfalls. While preparing for this year’s budget, senior leadership took a hard look at strategic expenditures, operational costs, and restructured or delayed certain timelines as revenue was recaptured in the district. The TISD Finance Department was diligent about looking at property tax audits to regain state fundings, maximizing interest income whenever possible, and being strategic about refinancing and selling bonds to take advantage of the most favorable rates.
The district also focused on reducing its chronic absenteeism rate to improve both state funding and student outcomes. TISD’s chronically absent rate improved by more than 3.4% over the past year as the district identified at-risk students earlier and increased family engagement by communicating support to those families.
The partnership with the Temple community has also played a major role, including the passage of Proposition A and Proposition B in Election 2025. The passage of Proposition A provided Temple ISD with the necessary funds to cover the safety and security mandates by the Texas Education Agency.
“I want to thank the senior leadership team for their hard work in bringing forward a balanced budget,” said Dan Posey, president of the TISD board of trustees. “This has been a true team effort throughout the district, and we are committed to doing what is best for our students, staff, families, community partners, and our taxpayers.”
Temple ISD has also sold any existing surplus properties. The district sold Dickson, Emerson, and Cater properties, the Crestview neighborhood lot, and Woodson Field in the past several years. Community partners have also stepped in to support TISD initiatives such as STEM expansion across the district.
"We are grateful for the community for standing in the gap in support of our schools,” added Dr. Bobby Ott, superintendent of schools for TISD. “Our response to our community’s support is to be upstanding stewards of their dollars and bring forward a balanced budget.”
The Temple ISD fiscal year begins on July 1st. The TISD Finance Department has been recognized by Association of School Business Officials (ASBO), Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), Texas Association of School Business Officials (TASBO), and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for excellence and transparency in financial reporting for six consecutive years.