District overview
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
Canadian ISD serves about 760 students in Canadian, in Hemphill County in the Texas Panhandle, and in Higgins, which merged into the district in 2020. It runs four schools: Canadian Elementary, Baker Elementary, Canadian Middle School and Canadian High School. Like other Texas districts, it is paid for mostly by local property taxes plus state aid. Local taxes bring in more: the 2026-27 budget expects about $9.19 million from local sources and $5.08 million from the state. The district's taxable property value fell from about $994 million to about $827 million in 2026. The board kept the tax rate at $0.9769 per $100 of value and adopted a budget that spends about $2.2 million more than it expects to bring in.
$0.7054 for operations plus $0.2715 for bond debt, $0.9769 total. That is the same total as 2023, 2024 and 2025 and down from $1.2764 in 2020.
The 2026-27 budget plans $16.49 million in spending against $14.27 million in revenue, a $2.22 million gap. Spending is down 3.83% from 2025-26.
Taxable value fell about 17%, so local revenue per student drops from $15,782 to about $14,318 while state aid per student rises to about $6,282.
Voters approved $20 million in May 2024. The district has issued $14.5 million, including $4.5 million in 2026, and owed $12.21 million in principal on August 31, 2026.
The 2024-25 audit got a clean opinion with no material weaknesses, and the district earned a B in state accountability for 2025. A planned deficit is not the same as overspending: the posted records do not show the district's savings (fund balance), so how long it can cover gaps like this is not known from these records.
Bond money pays for building, renovation, safety and security work and school buses. During 2025-26 the district paid about $4.28 million to Huseman Builders Inc. and about $492,000 to A-Z Bus Texas LLC. Which buildings the work covers is not stated in the collected records.
May 4, 2024 voter-approved bonds (Proposition A)
The district added exemptions from new state laws on library book review, parent library councils, parent complaints and notices about uncertified teachers.
No direct cost
Candidates file by February 12, 2027 for the May 1, 2027 election.
District election costs
Canadian ISD (Hemphill and Lipscomb counties)
The district's election notice sets the next trustee election for May 1, 2027, with a candidate filing deadline of February 12, 2027. Its trustee list shows Jessica Cowden's and Heath Prater's terms ending in 2027. The number of seats and the candidates are not yet posted.
Official source · verified Oct 30, 2026
Practical guides to school phone policies, district budgets, and administrator hiring.
Explore resources →District postings on canadianisd.net (ParentSquare SmartSites): adopted and proposed budgets for 2025-26 and 2026-27, tax rate notices, resolutions and worksheets, the 2025 audit, debt transparency reports, the 2025-26 check register, November 2025 and May 2026 trustee election records, 2027 election information, the 2024-25 TAPR, the District of Innovation plan, the Title I parent involvement policy, and the 2020 Higgins consolidation agreement. Board roster and meeting schedule come from the district's board page.
We read every agenda, packet, recording, and set of minutes, and write up the decisions that affect families — each one linked to the document it came from.
Copy the RSS link into your feed reader to get new published alerts.
