Where the 2026-27 main fund goes, by job

In short

• Main fund spending planned for 2026-27: $476.2 million.¹
• Teaching (the “instruction” line): $279.6 million, about 59 cents of every dollar.¹
• Per student: about $11,570 in all, using the 41,143 students counted in September 2026 (our math).¹²

Numbers marked “our math” are our estimates, not official figures. The notes show the inputs and the steps.

How it works

• The main fund is the district’s day-to-day account. It pays teachers, keeps buildings running and runs buses. Bond money for new buildings is in other funds. See Where the money comes from.
• The state sorts spending by job. Every Texas district uses the same list of “functions,” like instruction, transportation or administration. So the lines can be compared across districts.¹
• A budget is a plan. It shows what the board adopted in June 2026, not what was spent.¹

What the numbers show

Job	2026-27 plan	Share	Per student (our math)
Instruction (teaching)	$279.6 million	58.7%	$6,795
Keeping buildings running	$44.2 million	9.3%	$1,075
School leadership (principals’ offices)	$26.4 million	5.5%	$642
Counseling	$24.3 million	5.1%	$591
Buses	$16.7 million	3.5%	$406
Sports, band and other activities	$14.9 million	3.1%	$363
Central administration	$11.5 million	2.4%	$280
Payments to the state (recapture)	$10.9 million	2.3%	$265
Teacher training and curriculum	$10.4 million	2.2%	$253
Computers and data	$9.0 million	1.9%	$218
Security	$6.6 million	1.4%	$161
Everything else (10 smaller lines)	$21.6 million	4.5%	$524
Total	$476.2 million	100%	$11,574

Source: the adopted budget, page 9.¹ Shares and per-student amounts are our math.³

The other side

• “Instruction” is not only classroom teachers. It also counts teacher aides, substitutes and classroom supplies. Library and teacher training are separate lines. Put the three together and it is about 62%.³
• Some lines are not the district’s choice. The $10.9 million to the state is recapture, money the state takes from districts with high property values.⁴ See Recapture.
• Per-student numbers move with the count. Fewer students came in fall 2026 than the district planned for, so each dollar is spread over fewer students.² See Which student count we use.
• Plans and results differ. For the bus line, the state’s actual data for 2024-25 shows $369 per student for day-to-day bus costs. That is a different year and a different count, so it does not match this page.⁵ See Buses.

Questions to ask

• How much of the instruction line is teacher pay, and how much is other staff and supplies?
• Which lines grew the most from the prior plan, and why, by the district’s account?¹

Changes to this page

• Nov. 2, 2026: Rewrote the questions to ask so each is open, neutral and addressed to the public body.

What we still don’t know

• What was actually spent in 2026-27. That will be in the district’s audit in late 2027.

Footnotes

1. Leander ISD, 2026-27 Adopted Budget, page 9, “Budget – Legally Adopted Funds,” General Operating column: 11 Instruction $279,577,524; 51 Plant Maintenance & Operations $44,247,004; 23 School Leadership $26,402,122; 31 Guidance & Counseling $24,333,094; 34 Student Transportation $16,713,634; 36 Co-Curricular/Extra Curricular $14,937,288; 41 General Administration $11,519,522; 91 Intergovernmental Charges $10,885,260; 13 Curriculum/Instructional Staff Development $10,423,777; 53 Data Processing $8,985,071; 52 Security & Monitoring $6,610,122; total expenditures $476,186,879. Local copy of the page. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. Board packet, Oct. 15, 2026, page 151: 41,143 students counted on Sept. 15, 2026, against 41,841 projected. Packet page 151. ↩ ↩²

3. Our math. Each line ÷ $476,186,879 for the share, and ÷ 41,143 for per student. “Everything else” is the other 10 lines on page 9 (including Instructional Administration $4,963,828, Library $4,752,226 and Health Services $4,707,713): $476,186,879 minus the 11 lines shown ($454,634,418) = $21,552,461. Instruction + Library + Curriculum = $294,753,527, 61.9%. Total ÷ 41,143 = $11,574. ↩ ↩²

4. 2026-27 Adopted Budget, page 12, lists line 91 as recapture. Local copy of page 12. ↩

5. Texas Education Agency, PEIMS actual financial data, 2024-25, function 34, operating funds, divided by 42,507 students (the state’s fall survey count). ↩