(C) El Paso Matters.org This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Canutillo ISD anticipates $4.4 million deficit; layoffs not off the table [1] ['Claudia Lorena Silva', 'More Claudia Lorena Silva', 'El Paso Matters', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-05-20 The Canutillo Independent School District is anticipating a $4.4 million deficit during the 2024-25 school year despite making budget cuts and eliminating 100 primarily vacant positions this spring. Superintendent Pedro Galaviz told El Paso Matters the district has already cut costs through these staffing changes, but there is still a potential for future layoffs. “It really depends where we are in August,” Galaviz said. “If we continue to lose enrollment, if our (average daily attendance) continues to drop and again no help from the governor, I don’t want to say no, but I don’t want to say yes.” The budget talks come as the district grapples with a $6.6 million deficit in the current school year. The board last summer adopted a $85.9 million budget – with a $3 million deficit already built in – for this school year. Galaviz noted the staffing changes have already cut the current year’s deficit by about $300,000. Canutillo town hall District leaders hope the $387 million bond measure voters narrowly approved on May 4 for new schools and districtwide improvements will save Canutillo ISD from an ongoing financial crisis as it deals with declining enrollment as students opt to attend neighboring school districts. The new schools won’t open for several years. “We know those schools are going to bring a spike in enrollment. So within the next four to five years, we expect to be much more favorable, especially when it comes to your budget,” Canutillo ISD Communications Director Gustavo Reveles told El Paso Matters. Reveles said the district will likely not give its staff pay raises in the coming school year – a move that has been echoed by school districts throughout El Paso after the 2023 legislative session failed to bring additional state funding to public schools as expected. See Also SISD anticipates $41 million deficit, no pay raises next school year The Socorro Independent School District may forgo pay raises for its employees, reduce its contributions to employee health insurance and close its aquatic center to cut the deficit. Earlier in the year, Canutillo had estimated a deficit of $7.9 million for the 2024-25 school year. During an April board meeting, however, staff said they expected that to rise to $9.9 million due to unexpected additional costs for fuel and transportation software, tax collections and fees, and other expenses. Reveles said the district lowered the deficit to $4.4 million by eliminating 55 administrative and teaching positions for the 2024-25 school year. This is on top of the 45 administrative positions the district cut this school year. He said the district would avoid cutting teaching positions and primarily focus on administrative ones. If the district is not able to reduce the deficits, Reveles said it might need to tap into its reserves. Canutillo ISD ended the 2022-23 school year with $8.2 million in reserves – enough to keep the district operating for 42 days. If the district’s deficit had reached $7.9 million for the 2024-25 school year, the reserve balance would have been reduced to under $560,000. If the deficit had been at $9.9 million, there would not be enough money in the reserve to cover all its expenses. While most of the positions that were cut were already vacant, the board voted not to renew Martha Piekarski’s contract as chief business officer. Under the position, she, along with the directors of each department, oversaw the district’s facilities and transportation, information technology services, financial services, child nutrition and warehouse and textbooks departments. Reveles said that the directors will now oversee their own departments. Next steps for Canutillo ISD bond The Canutillo ISD board on Tuesday canvassed the 2024 bond election results, recommended regulations for the Canutillo Bond Accountability Committee and looked into contracting a bond management services firm. Executive Director of Operations Oscar Rico during the meeting recommended the district enter into negotiations with Procedeo, a Fort Worth-based project management company. Rico said hiring the firm is estimated to cost 2.5% of the total bond measure, or about $10 million, and noted the board would still need to vote before awarding the contract. Canutillo Middle School would be replaced with a new campus in the Upper Valley under the proposed Canutillo ISD bond on the May 4 ballot. (Luis Torres/El Paso Matters) “They will be tasked with creating a plan of action for us with our priorities, as far as pilots go, say goes out and developing a roadmap for us,” Reveles said. He said the accountability committee will oversee the bond projects and ensure residents have a say in them. As part of the bond, the district plans to build four new schools: A permanent facility for the Northwest Early College High School and new campuses to replace Deanna Davenport Elementary and Alderete Middle and Canutillo Middle Schools. When the district first proposed the bond, it considered merging the middle schools and moving students from Deanna Davenport Elementary to another campus while the new schools are built. The board voted against that during the May 7 board meeting, opting to keep students at their schools at least for the coming school year. Reveles said the district does not have a timeline for school construction to start, but hopes the district will look into purchasing land and start district-wide repairs by the end of the year. 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