Fort Bend ISD's roughly 12,000 employees and their dependents stand to be covered under a new $126.3 million pharmacy benefit contract after the Board of Trustees approved a slate of financial items at a called meeting Monday, Aug. 17, according to the district's posted agenda.

The board, meeting at the Administration Building in Sugar Land, greenlit a five-year pharmacy benefit management agreement with CaremarkPCS Health through Employers Health Purchasing Corporation, not to exceed $126,268,800 through December 2031. Superintendent Dr. Marc Smith was authorized to negotiate and execute the deal.

Trustees also approved a $1,356,751 increase to the district's existing school bus purchase contract, raising the total not-to-exceed amount to $6,994,155 through September 2028. The additional spending comes as the board authorized the use of 2023 Bond Program Contingency Funds to pursue a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Clean School Bus Grant.

The TCEQ program, which has awarded more than $78 million statewide since 2008 for bus replacement or retrofit, funds transitions to diesel, gasoline, electric, natural gas, propane and other alternative fuels, according to TCEQ.

The decisions land as FBISD navigates a $32.8 million budget shortfall in its 2026-27 General Fund, approved in June. The district closed seven elementary schools ahead of this school year after a March 9 vote and enrolled 1,801 fewer students in 2025-26 than budgeted, Community Impact reported.

Board President Kristin Tassin, Vice President Angie Hanan, Secretary Dr. Shirley Rose-Gilliam and trustees Adam Schoof, Afshi Charania, Addie Heyliger and Angie Wierzbicki make up the seven-member board. Individual vote counts from Monday's meeting were not immediately available.

The board also approved a General Fund budget amendment tied to a donation, a Harlem Road Expansion Detention Pond and Drainage Easement Agreement with Fort Bend County involving the Travis High School campus, new library materials posted for public review since July, and an Agreement for Purchase of Attendance Credit for 2026-27, the state recapture mechanism under which property-wealthy districts pay back funding.

"This was a decision that I made, even knowing some of the challenges our students are going to face, because I think the alternative is untenable," Tassin said at the March 9 meeting when trustees voted to close the seven schools, describing the financial pressures that continue to shape the district's spending.

The 2026-27 school year began Aug. 11. The district's next regular board meeting date was not listed on Monday's agenda.