Charges dropped against Austin school CFO, superintendent says

Insurance fraud charges against Austin Independent School District Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Ramos that were not related to his job were dropped by law enforcement in Texas, the school superintendent announced Thursday.

Ramos, who joined the district as CFO in August 2021, resigned eight days before his July 31 arrest after which he was placed on leave until his departure date.

"We received a letter from the District Attorney of Williamson County's Office indicating that they do not intend to prosecute the charges related to his personal affairs," Superintendent Matias Segura said in a statement. "Ramos had previously submitted his resignation effective Friday, Aug. 16 and he will part from the district in good standing."

Ramos did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent to his school district email address.

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 an underlying AA-plus and revised the outlook to stable from negative last November.

Assistant Superintendent of Finance Katrina Montgomery is serving as the district's interim CFO.