(C) El Paso Matters.org This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . EPISD approves $18.5 million budget deficit, no employee pay raises [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: 2024-06-25 The El Paso Independent School District will need to tap into its reserves to cover a multimillion-dollar deficit for the 2024-25 school year after its Board of Trustees voted to adopt a $542 million budget Monday without giving employees a raise. The budget includes an anticipated $12.1 million shortfall. However, trustees on Monday also unanimously approved $6.4 million in additional expenses such as expanding the district’s special education program and replacing outdated equipment, which would bring the deficit to $18.5 million. The adopted budget represents a decrease of 30% over the current school year, which was approved June 2023 without a deficit. Now, the district is also expecting to end the current school year with a $14.1 million deficit, which would also need to be covered by its reserves. The district started the 2023-24 school year with $159.3 million in reserves. This comes as the district is looking to close or consolidate schools by the 2025-26 school year in response to declining enrollment and falling birth rates. Trustees on Monday also unanimously approved a compensation plan that would give all employees a $1,000 stipend for the 2024-25 school year – but only if the district is able to generate the extra funds. These stipends would cost the district an additional $8.2 million. The board’s motion did not specify where these funds would come from, though some trustees noted that selling unused properties could be an option. El Paso Independent School District Superintendent Diana Sayavedra discusses the “Destination District Redesign” plan at Burges High School on May 1. EPISD is seeking community input as it considers “sunsetting” some of its campuses in response to El Paso’s declining population. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) “It’s broad because at this point we don’t know if there’s any funds that are going to become available,” Superintendent Diana Sayavedra said about the stipends during the meeting. “There’s no guarantee that any property sale would happen going forward.” El Paso American Federation of Teachers President Ross Moore told members they shouldn’t plan on getting a stipend the coming school year. “One, I’m disappointed they didn’t invest more in their employees. Second, the resolution was so full of holes. It’s virtually meaningless. And lastly, I warned my members … don’t plan for or spend the $1,000,” Moore told El Paso Matters. Moore said he was also disappointed the board agreed to dip into its reserves to pay for the $6.4 million in additional expenses but not the stipends. “I’m not pleased with it, because there is a lot of ‘nice to have’ stuff in there. If the numbers they are presenting are accurate, they need to be personally parsimonious with their spending,” he said. These expenses include: uniforms and supplies for student activities, audit management software, redesigning the gifted and talented program, instructional materials, maintenance equipment and supplies and transportation. EPISD Chief Financial Officer Martha Aguirre told reporters the district doesn’t want to cut into its savings more than it already plans to. The district plans to end the 2023-24 school year with enough reserves to keep the district operating for 82 days. After covering the $18.5 million deficit, the district expects to end the 2024-25 school year with about 69 days worth of funds in its reserves. If the district paid for the stipends using its reserves, it would reduce that number to 64 days, Aguirre told reporters. “That’s very close to that lower end of the recommended fund balance,” she said. Texas school districts need to have enough reserves to run for at least 75 days to get an A in the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas. School districts throughout El Paso, including EPISD, are expected to approve tax rates for homeowners sometime in September. [END] --- [1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/06/25/episd-budget-deficit-2024-stipends-teacher-pay-raise/ Published and (C) by El Paso Matters.org Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/elpasomatters/