Lago Vista ISD freezes pay and adopts a $895,453 budget gap

Percentages, ratios, and changes in this story are our calculations from the cited records.

Who sets pay at the school district

Lago Vista Independent School District (LVISD) is run by a board of seven trustees.⁴ Voters elect them, and on Nov. 3, 2026, they will fill two seats, Place 4 and Place 5.⁷ The board votes on a compensation plan, and Jason Stoner, the district's Chief of Finance and Operations, presented the 2026-27 plan.^2,4

Two school property taxes pay the bills. The maintenance and operations (M&O) tax pays for daily operations, "primarily including payroll." The interest and sinking (I&S) tax pays for buildings and other capital projects, mainly new school construction.³

The district also pays recapture, a share of its local school taxes that goes back to the state.⁸ The budget books these payments on a line called contracted instructional services between public schools.^1,8

Teachers are paid on a scale by years of experience, and each added year moves a teacher down one row.⁵ District officials call those yearly raises steps.⁹ A state program called the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA) can add to teacher pay.^4,10 The district has expanded TIA so all its teachers can qualify, with 2026-27 a data collection year and payouts possible in 2027-28.⁴

2021-22 and 2022-23, recapture grows

The board adopted the 2021-22 budget on Aug. 30, 2021. It planned $29,183,785 in revenue and the same amount in spending. Of that, $9,694,694 went to instruction and $5,010,075 to the recapture line.¹¹

The school tax rate that year was $1.202.³ A state report for 2021-22 put the district's average teacher pay at $55,372, against $58,887 across Texas. The same report put teacher turnover at 17.9%.¹²

A year later, the board adopted a budget with $46,898,921 in revenue and the same in spending. The recapture line jumped to $16,382,075. Instruction rose to $10,756,194.¹³ The tax rate fell to $1.184.³

2023-24, a 2.5% raise for teachers and 4% for hourly staff

On May 8, 2023, the board voted 6 to 0 to raise the teacher salary scale by 2.5%. David Scott made the motion and Jerrell Roque seconded it. A draft budget dated June 12, 2023, set aside $187,000 for the teacher raise and $50,000 for a 4% raise for hourly workers.¹⁴

On June 12, the board voted 6 to 0 to approve the administrative and hourly pay scale. Rich Raley moved and Isai Arredondo seconded.¹⁵

The adopted 2023-24 budget had $43,122,617 in revenue and the same in spending. The recapture line dropped to $10,545,894.¹⁶ The tax rate was $1.0192.³

2024-25, a step raise and a $750,000 state change

On June 10, 2024, the board voted 6 to 0 to approve the teacher, administrative, and hourly pay scale. Greg Zaleski moved and Jerrell Roque seconded. A draft budget dated July 15, 2024, set aside $95,000 for a teacher step raise and $50,000 to continue the hourly raise.¹⁷

At that June 10 meeting, Stoner told the board a state re-evaluation of hold-harmless rules gave the district an additional $750,000 for 2023-24 and 2024-25. He said the change erased the deficit the district had expected.¹⁷

The budget adopted on Aug. 29, 2024, still had a gap of $959,263, with $41,771,456 in revenue and $42,730,719 in spending.¹⁸ The tax rate dropped to $1.0169, where it has stayed.³ Instruction rose to $12,103,419, and the recapture line fell to $8,453,720.¹⁸

2025-26, the state pays for an $8,000 raise

At a budget workshop on May 21, 2025, a district official told trustees that the state bill under discussion would raise pay only for teachers. The official said support staff, hourly workers, administrators, and front office staff would not get a raise from it. The official also said a step raise for teachers in 2026-27 would cost about $140,000.¹⁹

On June 9, 2025, a district official told the board the state's teacher raise money for the district came to $920,000, while the raises would cost about $950,000. The official said the district also had to give raises to hourly workers, whom it had paid $2 and $3 more than the Leander school district for the same position. The board also heard that any state-ordered raise requires the district to pay 8.2% of the added pay into the Teacher Retirement System.²⁰

On July 14, 2025, the board approved the 2025-26 compensation plan on a voice vote. The presenter told trustees the scale put $8,000 at the bottom for teachers with five or more years and $4,000 for those with three or four years. The presenter said the money the teachers get "is provided by the state."⁶ The scale lists the same two add-ons, tied to the 89th Legislature.⁵

The same presenter said the district also gave teachers with up to two years of experience a small bump. A trustee asked about substitute pay of $100 a day. A district leader said they had looked at adding $15 or $50 a day, at a cost of $40,000 to $50,000.⁶

A district official also said that day that the district could pay for teacher raises with money it usually sent to the state in recapture.⁶ On Aug. 11, 2025, a district official said spending on the instruction line, function 11, was up $600,000, largely because of the state-ordered raise.^8,21 The adopted 2025-26 budget has instruction at $12,935,199 and the recapture line at $4,329,250.²¹

That budget had $38,201,916 in revenue and $38,546,986 in spending. The gap was $345,070.²¹

We could not find the minutes of the July 14, 2025, meeting. The video does not give a count we could confirm, and the speakers are not named in its captions, so we call them district officials.

A look back at pay, 2021-22 to 2024-25

The state's 2024-25 staff report covers the year before the $8,000 raise.^5,22 It puts average teacher pay at $59,382, up from $55,372 in 2021-22. That is a 7.2% rise. Average pay across Texas rose 8.3%, from $58,887 to $63,751.^12,22

From September 2021 to September 2024, prices rose faster than average teacher pay.^12,22,23 The Consumer Price Index, the federal measure of what households pay, went from 274.310 to 315.301. That is a 14.9% rise.²³

Pay for other job groups moved differently. Professional support staff rose from $55,935 to $63,752, while the state average went from $69,505 to $75,909. Campus administrators rose from $73,278 to $76,489, against a state move from $84,990 to $88,786. Central administration rose from $100,442 to $123,359, while the state average went from $112,797 to $118,447.^12,22

By experience, beginning teachers gained the most, though the group also changed in size. Their average rose from $44,850 to $56,734. Teachers with one to five years went from $47,557 to $54,207. Those with six to 10 years went from $51,883 to $60,247.^12,22

Teachers with 11 to 20 years moved from $56,737 to $59,648. Those with 21 to 30 years moved from $63,091 to $70,747. Teachers with over 30 years went from $65,050 to $70,373.^12,22

The teaching staff changed a great deal. Average teacher experience fell from 13.4 years to 9.1 years. Beginning teachers grew from 5.0 to 26.6 full-time positions. Teacher turnover rose from 17.9% to 26.9%, against 18.8% statewide in 2024-25.^12,22

Enrollment rose from 1,808 students to 1,887. Teacher positions rose from 120.0 to 130.9, while total staff fell from 196.0 to 186.8.^12,22

2026-27, the freeze

On June 8, 2026, Stoner told the board the district planned to keep salaries at 2025-26 levels. He said the district would pay more of a health insurance increase so teachers' take-home pay would not fall. He put the cost of a step raise at about $130,000.⁹

The board met on July 13, 2026, at Lago Vista High School. Stoner told the board that "after reviewing our teacher salary rates as compared with surrounding districts, LVISD is very competitive, especially from year 8." He reminded trustees that teachers got a substantial raise in 2025-26. He said 84% of teaching staff have five or more years and that the $8,000 raise "equates to 10-12 years of step raises."⁴

The minutes say the district expanded TIA eligibility so all staff can qualify, with 2026-27 as a data collection year and payouts in 2027-28. Trustee Isai Arredondo asked what the district can do to offer more pay later. Stoner answered that enrollment, attendance, property values, and staffing models all matter.⁴

The video of the meeting adds more. Stoner said the plan freezes the salary schedule so that no one gets a raise. He said adding another $130,000 to $150,000 of cost would put the district's ability to pay its bills at risk. He said neighboring districts were either giving a step or doing nothing.¹⁰

Rich Raley moved to approve the plan and David Scott seconded. Trustees Arredondo, Sara Jane Cantwell, Brian Caller, Michele Coronis, Raley, Scott, and Kevin Walker all voted yes.⁴

What the new pay scale does

The 2026-27 scale moves each base pay amount down one row, to the next year of experience.^5,24 In 2025-26, the base for a teacher in year 5 was $53,000.⁵ In 2026-27, $53,000 is the base for year 6.²⁴ The same is true at year 15, where $61,400 in 2025-26 becomes the year 16 base.^5,24

So a teacher who moves up a year of experience keeps the same base pay. The base at year 0 stays $51,000. At year 30, the top of the scale, the base falls from $69,650 to $69,300. The 2026-27 scale is for 187 days, and the 2025-26 scale was for 186.^5,24

The state add-ons still step up on their own schedule. A teacher in year 3 in 2026-27 has a total salary of $55,500, and one in year 5 has $60,250.²⁴ In 2025-26, the base for year 2 was $51,500 and for year 4 was $52,250, with no add-on for year 2 and $4,000 for year 4.⁵ That means teachers who cross the three-year or five-year line gain $4,000 from the state.^5,24

Hourly workers and paraprofessionals, 2023 to 2026

The draft budgets we found include hourly raises for 2023-24 and 2024-25.^14,17 A district official said in June 2025 that the district had to pass raises to hourly staff.²⁰ Stoner said in July 2026 that no staff member gets a raise.¹⁰ The July 13 minutes do not mention hourly workers or paraprofessionals.⁴

Where the 2026-27 money goes

The draft 2026-27 budget in the Aug. 10, 2026, packet showed payroll rising by $339,280 to $16,994,952. The additions were $135,000 for high school supports, $223,520 for campus and employee support, $20,000 for maintenance, $40,000 for special education, and $140,000 for district support. A staffing cut of $219,240 offset part of that.⁷

That draft listed a $440,110 deficit.⁷ On Aug. 10, a district official told trustees that certified property values had fallen 6%, and 12% over two years.²⁵ The district's notice shows total taxable value falling from $3,603,544,190 to $3,384,335,333.²⁶

On Aug. 31, 2026, a presentation to the board named lower enrollment, lower property values, less interest revenue, higher insurance costs, and higher recapture costs as reasons the deficit changed. The presentation said payroll is about 74% of the General Fund budget after recapture.²

Sara Jane Cantwell moved to adopt the budget and David Scott seconded. Scott then moved to set the tax rate at $1.0169, and Michele Coronis seconded. All seven trustees voted yes on both.²

What it means for you

The tax rate is the same $1.0169 it was in 2024-25 and 2025-26. On $100,000 of taxable value, that rate means $1,016.90 in school tax (our math). That is 15.4% below the $1.202 rate of 2021-22.³ Taxable value fell 6.1%, so the same rate applies to a smaller tax base.^3,26

Over five years, the adopted budget's revenue rose 25.8%, from $29,183,785 to $36,699,034. Spending rose 28.8%, from $29,183,785 to $37,594,487. Spending on instruction rose 34.9%, from $9,694,694 to $13,076,083.^1,11 From 2021-22 to 2024-25, enrollment rose 4.4%.^12,22

The state report shows turnover of 26.9% in 2024-25, before the freeze.²² On June 8, 2026, a trustee asked whether the raises had helped keep teachers. A district official said he did not have that number and did not think teachers were leaving for better pay.⁹ The Learning Policy Institute estimates a turnover cost of $11,860 for each teacher who leaves a small district. It averages studies of two small districts elsewhere and is not a Lago Vista figure.²⁷

The other side is the district's bills. Stoner said the state's money for pay left the district strapped on contracted services and utilities.¹⁰

What we could not find

• The 2022-23 and 2023-24 state staff reports, so average pay for those years is missing.
• Salary scales for 2021-22 through 2024-25, so we cannot compare the 2025-26 scale with the year before it.
• The minutes of the July 14, 2025, meeting and the vote count.
• An hourly or paraprofessional pay scale for 2025-26 or 2026-27.
• Payroll by job group in the budget books, which list only totals by function.
• How the district will cover the $895,453 gap, which the records we found do not say.
• Why the Aug. 31, 2026, minutes call $895,453 a General Fund deficit when the Aug. 10 draft showed $440,110 on smaller totals.

What you can do

• Speak at a board meeting. Sign-up is between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. on meeting day.²⁶
• Vote on Nov. 3, 2026, when two board seats are on the ballot.⁷
• Ask the district why the deficit differs between the Aug. 10 draft and the Aug. 31 presentation, and for its salary scales and payroll by job group through a Texas public information request.