TEA conservator takes on Edcouch-Elsa finances

EDCOUCH — State education officials received a guarded welcome Tuesday night as they began what is expected to be a nearly yearlong review of the Edcouch-Elsa school district's troubled finances.

Fred Liner, a financial conservator assigned by the Texas Education Agency, assured skeptical school board trustees and a packed house of community members that his only goal was to help guide the school system back into the black.

"We're not trying to place blame," said Liner, who made his first official appearance at Tuesday night's school board meeting. "We just want to help you all get this fixed."

Liner and a newly elected school board majority voting bloc face the immediate challenge of addressing an estimated $7.5 million budget shortfall that could result in salary cuts, shortened work weeks and layoffs for the district - the largest employer in the Delta region.

TEA assigned Liner last month, after successive audits revealed Edcouch-Elsa's serious lack of cash reserves, excessive staff hiring and problems keeping track of school district property.

The district was forced to take out a $3.5 million loan over the summer just to cover its day-to-day expenses. And two weeks ago, Delta voters rejected a proposal - devised to address the budget shortfall - that would have raised the property tax rate by 13 cents per $100 of appraised valuation.

As the district's financial conservator, Liner will advise school board trustees on budgeting and spending choices but will have the authority to override their decisions should he deem it necessary.

The school system will pick up the $85 hourly tab for his salary as well as costs for his lodging and mileage. He is expected to stay with the district for at least nine months.

But some board members questioned Tuesday why it had taken so long for state regulators to recognize Edcouch-Elsa's financial mess.

"We made an attempt to get TEA out here almost two years ago," trustee Florestela Rodriguez said. "It would have saved us a lot of heartache and a lot of money."

Even after placing the district in financial conservatorship, the state agency postponed Liner's scheduled arrival by three weeks at the request of former school board president Juan Jose Ybarra Jr., who was concerned the situation would interfere with the hotly contested school board elections earlier this month.

At a special board meeting Monday night, hundreds of Delta residents cheered as a new board majority was sworn in and assumed the panel's leadership positions - ousting a majority that led the school system through the past two years of financial decline.

Some hooted and yelled as their candidates took their new seats. One man interrupted proceedings by braying out the chorus from arena rock band Queen's hit song "We Are the Champions."

Liner, a former superintendent of the Fort Hancock school system outside of El Paso, will have to contend with this charged political climate as he begins his review of the district's books.

He said Tuesday night that he will begin to meet with administrators, individual board members and community representatives to hear grievances in the coming weeks and will issue monthly reports on the district's progress.

The first evaluation is expected in mid-December.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.