Judson ISD employees are staring at another year without a raise after trustees voted Monday to keep pay flat for the 2026-27 school year. The board opted against cost-of-living increases and declined extra pay for campus support staff and academic trainers as the district scrambles to close a multi-million-dollar budget gap before asking voters for more local revenue.
Board vote and local cuts
At a June 8 special meeting, trustees voted 5-1 to approve the district’s compensation plan, with Lesley Lee casting the lone "no" vote and Trustee Jose Macias Jr. absent, according to the San Antonio Report. The board split 3-3 on a proposal to give roughly 30 academic trainers a $1,500 stipend, a tie that killed the idea and its roughly $50,000 price tag.
The pay freeze is landing on top of other belt-tightening moves. Earlier this spring, trustees signed off on closing four campuses, as reported by KSAT. In April, the board also approved a broad reduction plan that will eliminate about 536 positions as part of its strategy to balance the budget, according to Texas Public Radio.
What was on the agenda
The compensation plan appeared as a discussion and possible action item on the June 8 agenda posted to the district’s public BoardBook page, which lists the special meeting at the Educational Resource Center in Live Oak. Agenda materials included a draft budget summary and the proposed 2026-27 compensation plan that trustees were asked to approve, according to the Judson ISD BoardBook.
State funding did not cover everyone
State lawmakers recently passed House Bill 2, an $8.5 billion school funding package that pours significant new money into teacher pay through a tiered allotment tied to experience and district size, according to The Texas Tribune. But HB 2’s definition of "teacher" excludes some campus roles.
At Judson, that carve-out meant academic trainers, who coach teachers rather than hold full classroom assignments, did not qualify for the mandated raises. That gap in coverage became a flashpoint in the district’s budget talks, as highlighted in reporting by the San Antonio Report.
What is next for wages and voters
District leaders say they are still exploring options for generating more local revenue, including the possibility of another voter-approved tax rate election. Voters rejected a similar VATRE in November 2025, according to local election coverage in the San Antonio Express-News.
For now, the board is keeping only the standard teacher step increases that are tied to years of experience. Supplemental raises and new stipends are off the table, leaving many frontline employees wondering when, or if, additional pay will make its way back into the budget.
