Facing pressure, the La Joya ISD Board of Trustees will again this Wednesday discuss matters related to the district’s 2023 staffing adjustment plan while criticism of that plan seems primed to grow.
Trustees will discuss that plan after the La Joya American Federation of Teachers tells the public at a press conference Monday about efforts to reverse the district’s decision.
The board approved that plan late last month in an effort to rectify an imbalance between enrollment and staffing levels that’s grown unaddressed for some 15 years.
The district says it’s overstaffed by as many as 300 employees at a cost of about $20 million annually.
The staffing adjustment plan meant to address that imbalance includes laying off a significant number of employees, 139 at last count. The district is also closing two schools — Leo James Leo and Rosendo Benavides elementaries — at the end of the school year.
At a meeting for Leo parents earlier this month, Superintendent Gisela Saenz faced significant pressure from a group of over 200 community members asking for the school to be left open. Those community members criticized Saenz for the district’s dismal fiscal situation, repeated corruption scandals and a lack of transparency and communication regarding Leo’s closure.
The district’s local AFT will add to that criticism at Monday’s press conference.
“We understand the board adopted this plan on Jan. 25, but the affected campuses are only now being identified and teachers and staff are only just being told to worry about their jobs. And there are still so many questions left unanswered,” Brenda Solis, La Joya AFT president, wrote in a release. “Are more schools going to be forced to close? How many employees does the district expect to absorb at other campuses? How many can expect to be left out in the cold?”
The release says the union has filed open records requests for more information on the district’s financial situation and documents related to the development of the staffing adjustment plan.
Texas AFT President Zeph Capo is slated to attend virtually.
The board largely discussed that plan behind closed doors in executive session last month.
It’s again slated to discuss the plan in executive session Wednesday.
Trustees seemed less than eager to vote on the plan, and two ultimately abstained from doing so, though it passed without opposition.
