Edcouch-Elsa audit reveals massive drop in financial reserves

EDCOUCH — A recent financial audit of the Edcouch-Elsa school district shows its cash reserves dropped more than 60 percent during the last fiscal year.

One school board trustee contends the money went toward paying a high number of unnecessary workers who where merely hired to fulfill political favors for others on the board.

The audit — presented to trustees at a recent special meetings — shows the district had just less than $2.6 million in its coffers at the end of the 2007 fiscal year that wrapped up in August, down from more than $6.8 million at the start of the year.

A two-year analysis of revenues and expenditures shows the largest increases in spending during the 2007 fiscal year went toward plant maintenance and operations, co-curricular and extracurricular activities, instruction and data processing.

But one trustee contends most of the money was squandered on hiring unnecessary personnel.

“It’s the excessive hiring,” trustee Florestela Rodriguez said. “This is how (other board members) get all their votes, by hiring all these people and making sure they get their families out to vote.”

Board President Juan Jose Ybarra Jr. denied Rodriguez’s claims, though.

He said the district’s reserves went toward unexpected expenses, such as well-performing extracurricular activities, higher insurance costs and overtime to maintenance employees from heavy rains last summer.

“It’s all kinds of things,” he said.

The audit data and accusations echo stories that first surfaced in September about the district’s spending habits. But the latest data shows the district’s fund balance — its cash reserves — are about $2 million lower than was reported then.

“I’m sure we couldn’t operate for a month or two if anything, just for the salaries that you’d have to pay,” Rodriguez said.

Texas Education Agency spokeswoman De Etta Culbertson said state officials recently inquired with the district about its audit.

“That was a normal audit letter that we send to every district in the state when we have different questions about their audits,” she said.

A 2006 report by the state Legislative Budget Board found that Edcouch-Elsa lacked a plan for managing its fund reserves and had excessive amounts of employees, given the district’s size.

Since the district’s spending was first reported, District Superintendent Michael Sandroussi said the district has “cut back tremendously” on its spending.

Ybarra said the numbers show the district needs to curtail its spending this year and that personnel changes continue.

“We understand that the district can’t have all the people it has — we’re choosing not to replace them,” he said. “It’s sad that in the Delta, the biggest employer is the school district.

“It’s not our doing. It’s kind of the way it is.”

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Jared Taylor covers Edinburg, the Delta region and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.