Naming rights could be for sale at Austin football stadiums

The big picture: The Legislature last increased per-student funding in 2019, leaving school districts scrambling for ways to make ends meet.

• The Austin school district faces a $92 million deficit on its $954 million operating budget, even after a voter-approved property tax increase.
• Among the 22 districts KUT surveyed in Hays, Williamson and Travis counties, only three — Jarrell ISD, Round Rock ISD and Thrall ISD — reported balanced budgets for the 2024-25 school year.

Behind the scenes: By law, property-wealthy districts like Austin must send hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the state, ostensibly to be redistributed to poorer areas.

• Meanwhile, the cost of rebuilding and maintaining facilities has increased because of inflation.
• Plus, boosted by key ballot-box victories in November, Gov. Greg Abbott has vowed to pass a voucher bill next year, which would provide public funding for private school tuition, likely further pinching school budgets.

"Regardless of these constraints, we still invest in our staff and in our students," Austin schools superintendent Matias Segura told district board members last month.

• In November, Austin school district voters approved a property tax increase that will raise $41 million for Austin public schools.
• The owners of an average valued home in the district — valued at $553,493 — will face a $412 annual increase in school property taxes, according to the district.

Driving the news: During a budget reduction strategy presentation last month, Segura touched on ways to cut spending and raise money. "Everything's on the table," he said.

• That includes selling naming rights. Districtwide facilities, including House Park and Burger Stadium, could feature branded names, in the vein of Q2 Stadium or the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, per the district newsletter.
• In total, the Austin district has six athletics facilities.

What they're saying: On the naming rights matter, Segura said "We haven't been as aggressive or put energy behind what this could look like."

• School district officials said they hope to get brand ideas from upcoming community engagement sessions.

Zoom out: Other options to raise revenue or cut spending include:

• Selling or leasing Austin ISD facilities, including the old Rosedale, Brooke and Metz campuses, according to district officials.
• Reorganizing school buses. Currently, students can be bused across the city to get certain programming — but there are routes with no more than three students on a bus. "Instead, Austin ISD could create hubs where students can meet and be transported to programs," per a district newsletter.
• Eliminating portable classrooms — the district currently operates more than 400, and, exposed to the elements on all sides, they're expensive to maintain, Segura said.
• Slimming down property insurance. "When you think about the liability we carry, the premiums we have to pay and the amount of time we actually access that coverage, there's an opportunity to reconfigure that," he said.

Worth mentioning: The school district has not attached numbers to the potential money-raising strategies.

What's next: The district will hold meetings via Zoom from 6-7pm Monday and again on Zoom from 11am-noon Dec. 14.

• Both meetings will be available in English and Spanish.

The bottom line: "We're doing something impossibly hard that we have no choice but to do," Austin school district trustee Lynn Boswell said after the November presentation.