LIVE OAK, Texas – Judson Independent School District Vice President Amanda Poteet addressed a burning question in the district amid school closures.
“If you are a certified teacher in Judson ISD, you are absolutely still going to have a job with us,” Poteet said.
The district is still weighing reductions elsewhere because salaries currently account for 91% of the budget. Poteet and Superintendent Robert Jaklich confirmed the district has a goal of lowering that percentage to 84%.
“We are in a situation where cuts are going to need to be made, so other departments are going have to kind of take the hit on that,” Poteet said. “Things like administrators, we’re going to be looking at central office, we’ll be looking, in some cases, maintenance.”
In a recent interview with Judson ISD Trustee Jose Macias Jr., the board member who was board president in previous years as the board began slipping into the deficit, he addressed the reasons he believes led to the district going into a $37 million deficit.
“Shortages were everywhere,” Macias said. “We couldn’t find enough teachers. Back then, I was board president, we collectively talked about making major investments in our professionals and or teachers.”
Macias said the board decided to give teachers up to a 6% raise in the first year after the pandemic and a 4.5% raise in the second year.
“Which put us on a trajectory to be the highest-paid district in Bexar County,” Macias said.
The plan was working. According to Macias, teachers were being hired at Judson ISD, and they were staying, retaining teachers being one of the toughest battles at the time.
“It came at a cost because our superintendent did not recommend a 6% raise,” Macias said. “He recommended 1%.”
KSAT asked Poteet if administrators also received a salary increase at that time. While Poteet was not on the Judson ISD school board when that increase happened, she said she does think more than just teachers received pay increases.
“I believe so,” Poteet said. “Then also the way administrative staff ... the way they could move up the ranks from like midpoint to up — that was also changed, and I think that also had some effect on our budgetary concerns because people were hitting midpoint a lot quicker than they had in the past. … There were mistakes made.”
When KSAT asked how much of the salary costs are tied to educators versus administrators, Poteet said she’s not sure and reaffirmed that certified teachers will have a job in the 2026-2027 school year.
For families worried about what comes next, Poteet said, “Those on the board, we are making the best decisions we can for those 22,000 kids, because I promise you those 22,000 kids are just as important to us as our own.”
To improve the district’s financial outlook, the board plans to again put a Voter-Approval Tax Rate Election, or VATRE, on the November ballot. If approved, the tax rate increase would allow the district to use additional property tax revenue for school operations, including employee pay and student programs.
“Please help support (staff) when that VATRE time comes around so that we can support our teachers and give them the raises, so that we can get that money right back into the school and right back in the hands of the kids,” Poteet said.
A previous VATRE in November 2025, which the district said would have brought in about $21 million, failed.
Macias said the failed VATRE and other missed opportunities worsened the deficit situation.
“Both of those very significant revenue opportunities dissipated, and so as a result, now we’re here,” Macias said.
Poteet also pointed to state funding as a factor.
“Then you also have the funding not coming in from Austin, which I agree I would have loved if they had increased,” Poteet said. “But I’m also a firm believer in not spending money that you don’t have, and you can’t depend on something that you don’t have in your hands.”
There has not been a state funding increase for the basic student allotment since 2019, according to the Texas Education Agency as of data available through the 2024-2025 school year.
The board has already voted to close four schools at the end of the 2025-2026 school year and is considering staffing reductions in administrative offices and other non-certified positions. Whether the combination of closures, cuts and a possible VATRE will balance the budget within a year remains unclear.
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