The school board of the Eanes Independent School District has unanimously approved a $154.2 million budget for the upcoming school year 2016-2017. To meet the needs of the district, the board has approved withdrawal of $1.7 million from its fund balance.

To fund other school districts in Texas with lower property values, about 59% of Eanes' property tax revenue worth $82 million will be redistributed to  the state's "Robin Hood" school finance system. The amount is said to be more than what Eanes pays its teachers and staff at $62.1 million.

This school year's budget requires lesser withdrawal from the district's reserves, mainly because Travis county tax assessments are currently 9.7% higher than in 2015. Another bit of good news is that the Eanes Education Foundation donated $2.02 million toward teacher salaries. With 86% of the budget going to pay roll, the district stays aligned with its focus on hiring quality staff to maintain academic excellence in the district.

Read about how Eanes ISD placed second in Niche.com's ranking of "Best School Districts in the U.S." here.

In a list of best school districts in the United States, Eanes ISD placed second. We have yet to see if the direction of the school district will help it keep its top spot in the rankings of U.S. school districts.

Want to know more about the latest updates on Eanes ISD? Check out our blog or access the Statesman news article from which this post was based here.