Inside Crandall ISD’s New $107.86 Million Budget: Where the Money Is Going
Rising enrollment, transportation costs and debt payments drive a 27 percent increase in combined spending over two years.
Crandall ISD will operate with a substantially larger budget in 2026–27 as rapid enrollment growth, higher instructional costs, transportation demands, school safety and rising debt payments continue reshaping the district’s finances.
The newly adopted budget calls for $107.86 million in combined spending across the general fund, child nutrition fund and debt service fund. That is up from $99.08 million in 2025–26 and $85.20 million in 2024–25.
In two years, the combined budget has grown by nearly $23 million, or 27.1 percent. The district’s general fund, which pays for most day to day school operations, has increased even faster.
General fund spending climbed from $66.26 million in 2024–25 to $78 million in 2025–26 and $85 million for 2026–27, an increase of $18.74 million, or 28.3 percent, in two years.
What the Numbers Mean Per Student
Crandall ISD’s publicly posted adopted budget summaries do not state a specific 2026–27 enrollment assumption. The district’s most recently published enrollment snapshot showed 7,449 students in 2025, an increase of 525 students from the previous year.
Because the adopted summaries do not provide a comparable enrollment figure for each budget year, this analysis uses 7,449 students as a common benchmark across all three years. That allows a consistent comparison of how each budget category has changed relative to the district’s most recently verified enrollment. It should not be read as a prediction that 2026–27 enrollment will remain at 7,449.
Using that benchmark, general fund spending has grown from about $8,895 per student in 2024–25 to $10,471 in 2025–26 and $11,411 in 2026–27, roughly $2,515 more per student than two years ago.
| Budget Year | General Fund Spending Per Student |
|---|---|
| 2024–25 | $8,895 |
| 2025–26 | $10,471 |
| 2026–27 | $11,411 |
Instruction Remains the Largest Expense
Classroom instruction remains by far Crandall ISD’s largest general fund expenditure. Instruction spending rises to $47.32 million in 2026–27, compared with $43.07 million last year and $36.81 million two years ago.
That is an increase of more than $10.5 million, or 28.6 percent, over two years. Using the enrollment benchmark, instructional spending has risen from approximately $4,942 per student in 2024–25 to $5,782 last year and $6,353 per student in the new budget, about $571 more per student than the 2025–26 budget.
Share of the General Fund
56%
Instruction consumes about 56 percent of the $85 million general fund, meaning the largest share of new operating money continues flowing toward the classroom rather than central administration.
Where the Growth Is Happening
Administrative, transportation, safety and facilities spending are all rising as well, though each remains considerably smaller than the instruction budget. The table below compares spending for the district’s major operating categories across all three budget years.
| Category | 2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 | Two Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Instruction | $36.81M | $43.07M | $47.32M | +28.6% |
| School Administration | $4.80M | $5.40M | $5.94M | +23.6% |
| General Administration | $3.34M | $3.43M | $3.79M | +13.5% |
| Transportation | $2.83M | $3.59M | $4.02M | +42.3% |
| Security & Monitoring | $1.23M | $1.43M | $1.63M | +32.1% |
| Maintenance & Operations | $6.71M | $7.31M | $7.84M | +16.9% |
| Debt Service* | $13.98M | $16.66M | $18.11M | +29.5% |
Two additional categories are growing quickly but do not yet have three full years of comparable data available in the adopted summaries.
Instructional Administration
More than doubled, from $552,244 in 2024–25 to $1.19 million in 2026–27.
Curriculum & Staff Development
Jumped from $1.19 million in 2025–26 to $1.66 million in 2026–27, an increase of almost $473,000, or 39.9 percent, after remaining essentially flat the year before.
Transportation and Security Costs Are Climbing Fast
Few categories illustrate Crandall ISD’s growth pressures more clearly than transportation. Student transportation is budgeted at $4.02 million for 2026–27, a 42.3 percent increase in two years, as the district adds routes, vehicles and drivers to serve an expanding attendance area.
Crandall ISD also holds continued hazardous route designations, which allow qualifying transportation costs to receive additional state funding.
Security and monitoring services increase to $1.63 million, up from $1.23 million two years ago, a 32.1 percent rise. The district operates its own police department and has continued expanding school safety programs and personnel. Crandall ISD has also discussed additional state security requirements that could add future costs.
Debt Payments Reach $18.11 Million
Growth is affecting more than day to day operations. Crandall ISD expects to spend $18.11 million on debt service in 2026–27, compared with $16.66 million last year and $13.98 million two years ago, an increase of about $4.13 million, or 29.5 percent.
Using the enrollment benchmark, annual debt payments have climbed from about $1,877 per student to $2,236 and now $2,431 per student. Crandall ISD has previously reported $365 million in bonds authorized by voters, with $140 million issued as of late 2025 and additional borrowing planned as new schools and other facilities are constructed. Debt service is funded separately from the general fund, primarily through the district’s interest and sinking tax revenue.
Where the Additional Revenue Comes From
The general fund is budgeted to receive exactly $85 million and spend exactly $85 million in 2026–27. Local revenue increases only modestly, while the much larger change comes from the state.
| Revenue Source | 2024–25 | 2025–26 | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local | Not stated in adopted summary | $19.97M | $20.64M |
| State | $46.17M | $57.83M | $64.36M |
| Federal | $600,000 | $200,000 | $0 |
State general fund revenue rose from $57.83 million to $64.36 million in a single year and has climbed by approximately $18.19 million over two budget cycles, accounting for almost the entire increase in the general fund over that period.
Federal general fund revenue falls to zero in the adopted 2026–27 budget after being budgeted at $200,000 last year and $600,000 two years ago. Federal funding still appears separately in the child nutrition fund.
Payroll Is the Largest Missing Detail
Data Limitation
Personnel is normally the largest cost in a school district, but Crandall ISD’s publicly posted adopted budget summaries report expenditures by governmental function rather than by object code. That means the documents do not separately identify total salaries, wages and employee benefits, making a precise three year payroll comparison impossible from the adopted summaries alone.
What can be verified is that the board approved a new 2026–27 compensation plan earlier this year. The teacher pay schedule establishes a $60,000 starting salary, with salaries reaching $83,470 for highly experienced teachers, along with additional degree stipends.
Because compensation is distributed among instruction, administration, transportation, security and other categories, the $47.32 million instruction budget should not be read as payroll alone. A complete payroll comparison would require the district’s object level budget detail rather than the one page adopted summaries currently posted publicly.
The Fund Balance Is No Longer Being Used to Balance the Budget
The 2024–25 adopted budget anticipated a $1.01 million reduction in the general fund balance, with child nutrition expected to draw another $54,907. An anticipated debt service surplus reduced the combined drawdown to $344,832.
The 2025–26 budget was adopted as balanced, with no planned change in fund balance, and the same is true for 2026–27. General fund revenue and expenditures are both budgeted at exactly $85 million, meaning the district does not plan to use accumulated reserves to support normal operations. The posted summary does not disclose the district’s projected fund balance amount at the close of the year, only the expected annual change.
Two Year Growth at a Glance
The central story in Crandall ISD’s budget is not one unusually large program. It is the cumulative financial effect of rapid growth. Compared with 2024–25, the district is budgeting the following increases.
Total combined spending has climbed from approximately $84.9 million in budgeted revenue two years ago to nearly $107.9 million today. For taxpayers, the most important distinction is where those dollars are going.
The numbers do not show administrative spending consuming the growth in the budget. Instruction remains overwhelmingly the largest expenditure, while some of the fastest increases are occurring in transportation, security, curriculum services and debt, categories closely connected to serving more students and operating a larger school system.
But the budget also demonstrates the long term financial challenge facing Crandall ISD. Every new subdivision can bring additional students and state funding. It can also eventually require additional teachers, buses, police officers, administrators, classrooms, campuses and millions of dollars in construction financed through debt.
The 2026–27 budget is therefore more than a spending plan for one school year. It is another financial snapshot of a district trying to keep its operating capacity ahead of one of the fastest moving growth periods in its history.
