Edinburg school budget cuts central office, saves academics
EDINBURG — The school board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a $307.6 million budget for the 2011–12 school year, absorbing $12.7 million in state funding reductions mostly through central office cuts and attrition.
The county’s largest district — both by student population and sheer geographic size — will trim nearly $3 million in substitute and consultant costs by hosting most staff development from within.
“It’s just something we’re going to have to do in house now,” said Rebecca Morrison, assistant superintendent for business and finance. “Edinburg is fortunate that we have been financially sound with conservative fiscal practices.
“During lean times, that historical approach definitely pays off,” she added.
Edinburg schools’ total funding loss fell from more than $18 million in February, when state lawmakers were considering a worst-case scenario and district officials proposed cutting 15 percent from campus, fine arts and athletics budgets.
Administrators eventually scrapped that plan, instead offering trustees a final budget that actually boosts funding for extracurricular programs while carving 15 percent from central office budgets.
The district also found a bulk of its savings, nearly $3.6 million, through the attrition of 80 locally funded positions — on top of 56 other vacancies left unfilled over the past year.
“We are very proud of the budget,” board Vice President Carmen Gonzalez said. “We are one of the few districts that did not have to lay off anybody, a single employee.
“It’s just a matter of maintaining your finances. Don’t spend what you budget just because you can,” she said. “And even with what happened to us (at the state level), we still were able to restore money to the fund balance.”
Her district should see more than $318.3 million in state, local and special revenues. But the approved budget appropriates just under $308 million of that, adding a nearly $10.7 million surplus to the existing $43.7 million cash reserve fund balance.
That cushion comes even after the district suffered about a $342.5 million drop in certified taxable values. Minerals and utilities in Edinburg schools’ sprawling boundaries sunk nearly a half-billion dollars in value, though real and personal property value grew by approximately $116.3 million.
At a 90 percent tax collection rate, the district should collect about $61.7 million in local taxes, Morrison said.
“That has been historically what Edinburg has budgeted, even though our actual collection rate is higher,” she said. “We just want to be conservative.
“If we budget at 90 (percent) and we collect, say, 95 (percent), that’s 5 percent savings we can put in the fund balance right away,” Morrison added.
Other cuts included $120,000 in custodial substitute costs, $609,100 for employee attendance incentives and $1.2 million to the district’s technology hardware budget, following the state Legislature’s eliminating of its technology fund.
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Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4472.
