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Bexar County’s fourth largest school district has less revenue per student than its peers, but spends more than they do. That’s according to an efficiency audit presented to the board of trustees for the Judson Independent School District on Thursday.
State law requires school districts to conduct efficiency audits before asking voters to approve a tax-rate increase. Judson is one of several San Antonio-area school districts with a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election (VATRE) on the November ballot.
Judson commissioned school finance company Moak Casey to conduct the audit.
According to their findings, Judson has about $300 less in revenue per student than a cohort of peer school districts, and about $900 less than the state average. However, Judson spends about $850 more per student than its peers, and about $300 more than the state average.
Total operating expenditures for the most recent year at Judson ISD totaled $11,063 per student, while its peer districts average was $10,205 per student. The calculations are based on the 2023-2024 school year.
Despite being selected as peers, the cohort of 10 peer school districts have several key differences from Judson. Most notably, they have a higher percentage of low-income students and a higher percentage of students in special education — two of the student populations that require the most resources to support learning.
Josh Haney with Moak Casey said the primary criteria for selection as a peer was enrollment size.
“We want to match districts that are facing similar student levels, similar enrollment levels, and that's sort of our first tier that we look at in terms of finding fiscal peers,” Haney said. “We also look at five-year growth patterns. So, if a district is shrinking over five years and they happen to be at the same enrollment level as the district that's getting the efficiency audit, we want to make sure to capture that and try and align districts that way they have similar growth patterns.”
Haney said Moak Casey did consider student characteristics, but only after enrollment size, and the shorthand the company used to measure student need was the combined calculation of all the populations that get additional funding, including the number of students enrolled in career and technical education.
Seven of the 10 peer districts have a lower percentage of economically disadvantaged students than Judson, and eight serve fewer special education students. Judson is 72% economically disadvantaged, while the peer districts on average are 57% economically disadvantaged, and the state average is 60%.
Members of the peer cohort included Spring Branch ISD, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, and Galena Park ISD.
"Seeing our operating expenses so much higher than our peer districts is a little frustrating, especially when we look at our academic results compared to our peers," said Board President Monica Ryan during discussion on the audit.
Judson received a “D” accountability rating from the Texas Education Agency, with a score of 69 for the 2024-25 school year.
Haney said Judson would have received a C, but it ran afoul of TEA’s “Three D Rule.”
TEA rules bar districts from being rated above a D if three of the district’s four accountability domains are rated D.
“Had that rule not been in place, the district would have received a C, and you can see how that compares to the fiscal peers. They do have a mix of C's and B's and one A there in Pearland,” Haney said.
Judson ISD is asking voters to approve a total tax rate of just under $1.08 per $100 of value this November. The district said this will add $21 million in revenue that will be used for salary needs, academic programs, and student services across the district.
A VATRE gives school districts access to a limited amount of additional revenue to pay for operating expenses like teacher salaries and student programs. That gives districts more flexibility than a bond election, which can only collect money for construction and infrastructure.
