Doing the Math: Your Very First Look at the Dallas ISD's Proposed 2012-'13 Budget

​For several weeks we've known how 3700 Ross intends to deal with a budget shortfall in the coming school year -- by closing schools (guesstimated to save $11.5 million) and jumping kindergarten to fourth-grade teacher-student ratios from 22:1 to 24:1 per classroom (which could result in the loss of 300 teachers, an $18 million savings). And there are other cuts coming; we just don't know what they are yet. As you'll see below, in the preview labeled "Version I" of the budget Dallas Independent School District trustees will review during Thursday's board briefing, they remain "to be identified." The amount left to erase: $3,250,198.

Which isn't to say the entire proposal (titled, still, "Success With Less") is full of cuts; far from. Matter of fact there are several additions being proposed for the coming year -- chief among them, spending $5.7 million to make sure every pre-K teacher has a teaching assistant, high on the board's list of priorities. Two other proposals will cost around $1.1 million combined:

• Add back seventh grade athletics - $400,000
• Add Back $4.50 per student to all campuses for discretionary spending - $708,075

Also, note: "No salary or step increase." DISD2012-13 Budget Preview