MISD BOARD OF TRUSTEES
APPROVE BALANCED BUDGET,
LOWERED TAX RATE
superintendent of business and finance.
“I’m very pleased that we were able to
propose a balanced budget while still
compensating our educators above
the amount that was required and
keeping our salaries very competitive.”
MISD’s 2019-20 general operating
budget totals $307.6 million. Debt
service is $58.3 million. The budget
for student nutrition, which is not
funded through local tax dollars,
was approved for $18 million with
no increase in student meal prices.
The 2019-20 budget went into effect in July 2019.
T
he Mansfield ISD School Board
unanimously approved a balanced
budget for the 2019-20 school year.
As part of the budget, 10-, 11- and
12-month employees received a 3%
raise at their pay grade’s midpoint.
Teachers, librarians, counselors and
nurses with six or more years of
experience received a 3.5% raise at
the midpoint of their pay grade.
House Bill 3 (HB 3), which was signed
into law on June 11, gave more
funding per student to Texas public
school districts, but it was not an
equitable bill. School districts do not
receive the same dollar amount per
student. Therefore, Mansfield ISD
still receives less funding per student
than the regional and state average.
Despite that, MISD teachers were
given more than twice the amount
4 MANSFIELDTODAY
that is required under the law.
“We put more money into raises
than the new Texas school finance
law required because we value our
educators,” said School Board President
Karen Marcucci. “There were, and still
are, some unknowns about how the
law will directly impact the district
and what new mandates we will have
to adhere to, so we as a district want
to remain fiscally responsible as more
of those specifics are being released.”
Mansfield ISD’s new teacher salary
is $56,019. That amount is higher
than the starting teacher salary of
most districts in the Metroplex.
“The challenge we faced as a school
district was having to create a budget
without knowing the exact implications
of the new school finance law,”
said Dr. Karen Wiesman, associate
In addition, Mansfield ISD’s tax rate
has dropped from $1.54 to $1.46 per
$100 of certified property value.
Under the new tax rate of $1.46, 97
cents will go toward the maintenance
and operations (M&O) fund, and 49
cents is for the debt service fund.
The maintenance and operations
budget funds daily costs and recurring
or consumable expenditures, such as
teacher and staff salaries, supplies,
food, gas and utilities. The debt service
fund is used to repay debt for longer-
term capital improvements approved
by voters through bond elections.
“
We put more money
into raises than the new
Texas school finance
law requires because we
value our educators.
KAREN MARCUCCI
SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT