Courtesy Photo
Eying continued enrollment declines and the end of federal pandemic-ESSER funds, leadership at the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District is looking at budgetary steps that will help it avoid a “financial cliff.”
A preliminary budget plan presented to the board Monday showed the district anticipates a $25 million deficit for the 2022-23 fiscal year, although ESSER funds will cover that deficit and balance the budget.
The district’s first budget workshop will likely be held sometime late this month, and ideally leadership wants to see that deficit be trimmed down.
The fact remains that ESSER monies will, as one trustee said, bail the district out this year; without them it would have been in “dire straits.” That financial lifeline won’t be around in the near future.
“We’re able to do this now, we’re very fortunate that we’re able to do this now so that we can continue to accelerate student learning,” Superintendent Jorge Arredondo told the board. “But as you all know, ESSER funds…will eventually run out. So because of that we need to make sure that we continue to plan appropriately for a year from now.”
The district attributes its economic woes to loss of funding tied to enrollment.
Enrollment at PSJA dropped off precipitously during the pandemic.
During the 2019-20 school year, enrollment was at 32,412. Enrollment dropped by a little over 1,000 the next year, and by another 2,000 in the 2021-22 school year.
The board has repeatedly approved initiatives this year meant to bring some of those students back to PSJA, among them a COVID-19 vaccine incentive program and redesigned campuses with flashy, innovative curriculum offerings.
The district’s leadership is hopeful it’ll see enrollment recover, but they aren’t counting on it.
PSJA is hardly the only district losing students and anticipating some serious ESSER funding withdrawal symptoms.
In May the then-Mercedes ISD superintendent told her board ESSER funding was all that allowed the district to move forward with projects without going out for a bond this year.
ESSER funding allowed McAllen ISD to avoid a roughly $5 million budget deficit this year. In a search for more funding for teacher salaries, McAllen ISD trustees will consider trying for a voter-approved tax rate hike, and a couple trustees have suggested reneging on special projects funded by ESSER to channel that money back to meat and potato expenses.
La Joya ISD has been consolidating campuses and looking to employee attrition in the face of dropping enrollment, but may still have to declare a financial emergency.
Saving funds through workforce attrition seemed to be the most concrete.
“If their numbers continue to decrease, then obviously that means then they will need less staff,” Arredondo said. “So our intention to meet with principals is really to motivate them to continue to be part of the team and continue to advocate for students to return to the campuses.”
Attrition refers to not replacing staff who voluntarily choose to exit the district; it does not mean the district is looking at making cuts.
Trustees were very eager to get that point across.
“Nobody has gotten a pink slip and no one is going to get a pink slip,” Trustee Jesus “Jesse” Vela said. “They’re gonna have a job. I think that needs to be very clear.”
Trustees bounced around a couple of ideas that have been popular at other local districts facing a tough financial decision, among them hopes for changes to how districts are funded based on enrollment, tightening the budget, and the possibility of available state or federal funds tied to safety and mental health.
Mostly though, trustees seemed to want to find a way to boost those enrollment numbers, a topic the board discussed at length in April.
As Trustee Jesus “Jesse” Zambrano noted, declining enrollment was a concern years before the pandemic. He stressed the importance of recruitment efforts and of having a district that’s attractive to students and parents.
“Attrition, I mean that happens, that happens in all the districts, it happens all the time,” Zambrano said. “To me the main thing is that we continue to remain efficient, and that student to teacher ratio in the classroom doesn’t get affected. And that the education of our kids does not get affected. And if we continue to do that, hopefully this time will pass and we will continue to adjust to bring some of the students back that we have lost.”
