Open enrollment talks continue at Sharyland ISD

MISSION — Talks of implementing a limited open enrollment initiative at Sharyland ISD for the 2021-22 school year continued during a Jan. 25 meeting, framed by fears of encroaching charter schools and shuddering on the board that opening the doors to inter-district transfers could diminish the prestige of one of Hidalgo County’s most silver-spooned communities.

Maria Vidaurri

Facing declining enrollment, the board began entertaining proposals from the administration on allowing inter-district transfers late last year.

Proposals from the administration suggest adding about 160 students from out of the district, which would maintain the 2019-20 enrollment of 10,048 students.

Superintendent Maria Vidaurri characterized that step as a necessity to address declining enrollment at a December meeting.

Based on comments from the Jan. 25 meeting, the board isn’t altogether sold on that notion.

Most of the conversation revolved around property taxes and real estate value — the premium parents pay to see their kids graduate from a Sharyland school.

Trustee Melissa Smith said the district should focus on publicizing its success, arguing that the addition of Public Relations Director Nancy Barboza Maldonado last year ought to undergird those efforts.

Smith, a businesswoman, said who does and doesn’t get to go to school in the district has a very real impact on the community’s economy.

“I hate to sound selfish, but I’m involved in the development of the real estate in the Sharyland school district, and the very first thing that we put on every sign or anything that we sell or anything that we invest in is the sheer fact: if you live here, if you buy here, if you invest here, you get to go to Sharyland ISD,” she said. “And I guarantee that that is a huge selling point for everyone who’s invested and every realtor in town.”

That point was backed up by a district analysis presented at the meeting.

CFO Ismael “Smiley” Gonzalez said preliminary comparative market analysis comparing real estate between Sharyland ISD and Mission CISD or McAllen ISD using home tax rates showed an average of around 10%-20% premium costs for homes that are within the Sharyland school district.

Vidaurri acknowledged the culture the district has cultivated and the associated property premium — she’d bought a home in the district when she moved to the area, she said.

However, she said she feels the way the district has structured its prospective open enrollment program won’t significantly impact property values.

Vidaurri described open enrollment as a slow, board-controlled process that would return to trustees yearly for approval with analysis on how it was affecting the district and the community. Besides, she noted, the district is just trying to maintain enrollment levels, it’s not looking to open the floodgates.

“I don’t think with 160 students that that would have an impact on the real estate value of people moving in,” she said.

Other trustees cast doubt on whether losing so few students even warrants open enrollment.

“We’re trying to address a problem that’s equal to 1.6% of our population,” Trustee Ricky Longoria said. “And I’m gonna bet that that’s probably going to be about 1.6% of our entire budget, in terms of revenue. One percent of a hundred million dollar budget is a million dollars, and certainly I’m not gonna say that’s not insignificant as a number, but in relation to our total budget, 1%, 1.5%, even 2% is not significant.”

Longoria acknowledged that charter schools would likely continue to sap students away from the district, and wanted to know why the district is losing kids and precisely how many are slipping out the door.

Still, he suggested bolstering programs that would attract students to the district as an alternative to open enrollment.

“I can’t believe that in a $100 million budget you can’t come up with a million and a half dollars and still not impact programs,” Longoria said.

Vidaurri said the district could probably manage that deficit through employee attrition, but noted Sharyland’s mariachi and band programs are growing, programs that need personnel to run them — and personnel makes up the lion’s share of the district’s budget.

“I know 1% may not seem like a lot, but we only get 20%-25% for our programs,” she said.

What’s more, those charter schools are circling Sharyland closer and closer.

Vidaurri received a letter on the day of the meeting notifying her that a Vanguard Academy was breaking ground nearby and would be complete in a couple of years, more fuel likely to fan the enrollment problem she says has plagued her and the district’s last two superintendents.

Vidaurri requested the board consider open enrollment as an action item in February.

“Because we keep working on this,” she said, “and again, we’ve got another IDEA coming up and we’ve got this Vanguard.”