Despite closing multiple schools last year and voting to close another in the next school year, the South San Antonio Independent School District hasn’t been able to resolve a financial deficit.
Now, officials are considering a district-wide reduction in force, or layoff, in an effort to close the gap.
The move, which is posted on the agenda for a meeting of the board of trustees Wednesday, is the latest effort to reign in a budget deficit that remains above $9.5 million, according to a financial statement also posted in the agenda.
Tom Cummins, the president of the South San Antonio ISD American Federation of Teachers, a union representing teachers and staff in the district, said the agenda item was the first he and teachers had heard of the proposal.
“We really regret that the first notice we get of this was on the agenda, which was put up late Friday afternoon,” he said Monday. “We really only had a chance to start reacting to it.”
Cummins said he was caught off guard by the extreme measure, given the shortage of teachers and qualified staff, which has led the district to create new positions for temporary teachers who have no certification.
The union leader also said more funds are likely to come in either a special legislative session or the next regular session of the Texas Legislature.
No such funds materialized in the most recent sessions, however, amid a debate in Austin over whether public funds should be used on private schools in the form of vouchers, or education savings accounts.
The district began spending more than it was bringing in around the same time board members voted to reopen three previously closed schools in 2019, over the advice of the superintendent at the time.
Abe Saavedra, a former South San Antonio superintendent and Texas Education Agency (TEA) monitor who was appointed as a conservator for the district due to governance issues, has repeatedly warned board members that more action is needed to avoid financial catastrophe, adding that such action would involve “tough choices.”
Saavedra declined to comment on the financial situation of the district, but said he was working on a needs assessment which will be completed in February.
Trustee Abel Martinez, who has advocated for a state-appointed board of managers to be appointed to fix the chronic budget issues, said via text Monday that he was unaware of why the item was added to the agenda or what it means.
South San, like many other districts, is facing a substantial fiscal cliff this year when federal COVID-relief dollars that buoyed it through the last several budget cycles expire.
While closing a total of four schools should better align resources with its student population, the rate of enrollment continues to decline, impacting the overall money the district receives from the state.
The district also has experienced fluctuations in staffing levels as student enrollment has steadily declined. Staff was added in the first two years of the pandemic, but cuts were made in the last two school years, according to TEA data.
Before layoffs occur, the district must first declare financial exigency, a legal term that means the financial resources of a school district are insufficient to support its instructional programs or it is unable to finance the full compensation of staff for the current or next fiscal year, according to the TEA.
