Austin, Texas, school district CFO resigns ahead of arrest

Austin Independent School District Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Ramos resigned July 23, eight days before his arrest on an insurance fraud charge unrelated to the school system, according to the district and law enforcement in Texas.

The Travis County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Ramos was booked July 31 on a felony charge for an alleged crime committed outside of the county and was released on a surety bond the following day.

The arrest of Austin Independent School District CFO Eduardo Ramos on an insurance fraud charge unrelated to his job comes as the school system is in the midst of issuing $2.44 billion in voter-approved general obligation bonds and is facing a $78 million fiscal 2025 budget deficit.

Rich Saskal

The district said it is aware of the charge “regarding Ramos’ personal affairs,” adding, the arrest does not involve any alleged criminal activity related to his work for the school system, according to an emailed statement to The Bond Buyer.

The statement also noted the district’s finances are subject to external and internal auditing.

“We are engaging with our board to develop a plan to perform any further reviews deemed appropriate,” it said.

The district announced Friday that Ramos submitted his resignation on July 23 and was placed on leave starting July 31 until his Aug. 16 departure date. Assistant Superintendent of Finance Katrina Montgomery was tapped to serve as interim CFO.

In a statement to the Austin American-Statesman, Ramos said: “We have a judicial process. I ask that everyone let the process run its course before rushing to judgment.”

His departure comes as Austin ISD, which serves 72,830 students, faces a $78 million deficit in its fiscal 2025 budget and is considering asking voters to raise its maintenance and operations property tax rate.

Ramos was a key figure in debt sales by the district, which won voter approval in November 2022 for $2.44 billion of general obligation bonds. The district sold an initial $542 million of bonds in January 2023, followed by a $692 million issue earlier this year. The debt carries triple-A underlying ratings from Moody’s Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Fitch Ratings rates the district’s unlimited tax bonds AA-plus and revised the outlook to stable from negative last November.

Ramos had an extensive career in public school finance in Texas before joining the Austin district as CFO in August 2021.