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Dallas Independent School District heads to the municipal market this week with its biggest-ever new money bond issue, while it considers asking voters for as much as $6.24 billion in future debt. Texas’ second-largest public school system will sell $760.37 million of unlimited tax school building bonds that, along with $330 million of variable-rate bonds scheduled to price Feb. 4, will tap remaining authorization from $3.47 billion of general obligation debt voters approved in 2020, according to Eduardo Ramos, the district’s chief financial officer.

The deal should be “very well received,” he said. “The Dallas ISD name is well-known. We have a strong credit rating. Our finances are very strong and healthy,” Ramos told The Bond Buyer.

The bonds, which are being sold with the Texas Permanent School Fund’s triple-A-rated guarantee, fetched underlying ratings of Aa1 from Moody’s Investors Service and AAA from KBRA with stable outlooks. Moody’s said its rating “incorporates a long history of conservative budgeting that has led to consistently strong financial performance with robust reserves of around 60% of revenue for the past several years, including audited fiscal 2025.”

Dallas ISD to Issue Approximately $1.09 Billion in Unlimited Tax School Building Bonds and Variable Rate Unlimited Tax School Building Bonds

Dallas Independent School District (“Dallas ISD”) plans to price approximately $760,375,000* of Unlimited Tax School Building Bonds, Series 2026A (the “Series 2026A Bonds”) on or about January 14, 2026* and $330,000,000* of Variable Rate Unlimited Tax School Building Bonds, Series 2026B (the “Series 2026B Bonds,”) on or about February 4, 2026*. The Bonds are expected to represent the final installment of bonds submitted to and approved by the voters on November 3, 2020 as part of the District’s $3.54 billion bond election.

Cabrera Capital Markets LLC will serve as Lead Manager in the sale of the fixed rate Series 2026A Bonds, with UMB Bank, N.A. serving as Co-Lead Manager.

Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated will serve as Lead Manager in the sale of the variable rate Series 2026B Bonds, with Stern Brothers & Co, N.A. serving as Co-Lead Manager.

Dallas ISD anticipates the Series 2026A Bonds to have a 30-year amortization and the Series 2026B Bonds to be a variable rate series with a mandatory tender*. The Preliminary Official Statement and Official Statement for each series of the Bonds will be available via BondLink at BondLink.com and via the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s Electronic Municipal Market Access system at emma.msrb.org.

The proceeds from the sale of the Bonds will be used to provide funds (i) for the construction, acquisition and equipment of school buildings and the purchase of necessary sites therefore, (ii) for the acquisition and updating of District technology equipment, and (iii) to pay the costs of issuing the Bonds.

This news release is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Bonds. Any such offer or solicitation will only be made pursuant to the applicable Preliminary Official Statement and/or Official Statement that prospective investors should review in their entirety before making any investment decision.

*Preliminary, subject to change.

As bills to increase public school funding statewide are still making their way through the Texas Legislature, districts like Dallas are looking for ways to dig themselves out of a financial hole.

During a Dallas school board briefing Thursday, Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Ramos told trustees he expects the projected budget deficit of $187 million to shrink to $104 million by September.

“We have made some great strides in reducing the overall deficit by close to 83 million dollars,” he said. “We’re headed in the right direction.”

It’s not been easy: The district cut 86 positions as well as millions of dollars in office supplies and services from contractors. As deficits have grown, so have property values and property taxes, which fund schools.

State law requires property wealthy districts, Dallas included, to send some of its property tax money to Austin, for redistribution to property poor districts. This system, known as Robin Hood, or recapture, is meant to equitably fund education statewide.

It’s rubbed some school board members the wrong way, including trustee Camille White. Dallas will send $104 million back to Austin this year — $44 more million than last year. It’s contributing to the district’s deficit.

“A lot of our school districts are considered wealthy and we’re sending money back to the state. But a lot of us need that recapture money to help our own students, she said. “The Robin Hood, aka recapture, they’re actually robbing the hood.”

Despite the deficit, next year’s budget includes raises for all employees, from teachers and cafeteria workers to custodians and bus drivers. Raises will range from 2.2% to 3.6%.

Dallas ISD will pass its proposed budget later this month.

Now administrators and trustees wait for lawmakers to finalize their budgets. House Bill 2 could bring more than $7.5 billion to districts and raise per-student allotments. Another bill will hike teacher salaries, and yet another could affect debt and taxes.

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