Spring ISD faces a projected $33.1 million deficit after voters rejected Proposition A on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The measure failed with about 55% of voters casting ballots against it, according to unofficial results reported by Community Impact Newspaper. The voter-approval tax rate election (VATRE) would have generated roughly $15.5 million in additional funding through $5.6 million in local revenue and $9.9 million in extra state funding that the local investment would have unlocked, according to the district. We reported the vote result Tuesday.

Spring ISD Communications Director Fabiola San Roman confirmed the $33.1 million deficit figure to Community Impact, which first reported the number.

The district has already begun cutting. The Spring ISD Board of Trustees voted in December 2025 to close Link Elementary School and Dueitt Middle School starting in the 2026-27 school year, Community Impact reported. District campuses have been operating at 60% capacity, according to a district news release at the time.

Students at Link Elementary will be rezoned to Lewis or Beneke Elementary schools. Dueitt Middle School students will move to Bailey or Bammel Middle schools. Some Bailey and Bammel students will shift to Wells and Twin Creeks Middle schools.

Superintendent Kregg Cuellar said in a statement that he remains "optimistic and encouraged by the level of support we received from our community."

District leaders said they plan to spend the coming weeks gathering community feedback and identifying ways to strengthen relationships with families, according to the district's press release.

Spring ISD was not alone. Six Houston-area school districts saw tax proposals fail on Election Day, according to ABC13. Cy-Fair, Channelview, Crosby, Huffman and La Porte ISDs also asked voters to approve propositions, and all failed.

Virginia Snodgrass Rangel, a University of Houston education professor, told ABC13 that the statewide conversation around property taxes appears to be driving voters to reject school propositions. She said the failed votes could lead to layoffs in central offices or larger class sizes.

Without Prop A, the district's property tax rate stays at $1.1069 per $100 of home value. Had the measure passed, the rate would have risen to $1.1569 per $100. Based on the average home cost of $248,315, a homeowner with a homestead exemption would have paid roughly $22 more per year, according to the district.

VATRE revenue can only go toward maintenance and operations, not capital improvements, according to the district. The failed measure would have helped fund teacher salaries, utilities, transportation, supplies and other day-to-day costs. It would not have affected the district's $850 million bond program approved by voters in 2022.

The Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. at the Gordon M. Anderson Leadership Center.