Delta residents reeling after school layoff decision

ELSA — News of impending layoffs in the Edcouch-Elsa school district sent school employees scrambling Wednesday for any hint of who might be on the chopping block.

The school system announced Tuesday it would let 20 percent of its personnel go in an attempt to rectify a $10.1 million financial shortfall.  Nearly 200 employees are expected to receive pink slips by the end of the week.

And in the Delta region - where the school district serves as the largest employer - every family seemed to have a stake in the decision.

"Everyone is affected," said 27-year-old Amado Rosales, whose mother has worked in district cafeterias for nearly a decade. "Everyone knows someone that works for the schools or they work there themselves."

Residents packed the district's administration building to voice their concern at a raucous school board meeting Tuesday night. While many said they understood the need for the cuts, more were brimming with anger toward the administrators and elected officials who they blame for the district's current financial mess.

By Wednesday, though, Delta residents had moved on to other concerns such as how the cuts would affect their families.

Several employees declined to discuss their opinions of the decision publicly for fear that their job could be targeted. Others kept quiet out of concern for relatives who work in the district.

But nearly all inquired as to the latest developments.

The layoffs approved Tuesday will primarily affect employees in support roles such as maintenance work, security and various clerks and aides.

No teaching positions will be eliminated Friday, but some educators could be laid off in successive rounds of layoffs, district officials have said.

Fred Liner, a Texas Education Agency financial conservator assigned to the district, said the magnitude of the school system's debt has only become more apparent since he arrived to monitor spending decisions last month.

The district started off the school year with a $4.3 million budget shortfall, expecting voters to approve a property tax increase to make up the difference. They didn't.

This summer, school board trustees took out a $3.35 million dollar loan it has since had trouble repaying.

Combine that with the negative $1.5 million Edcouch-Elsa has in its financial reserves and another $1.1 million owed to contractors, and the problem grows worse by the day.

"It seems to get worse every time I come here," Liner said at Tuesday's meeting.

And despite orders to eliminate all discretionary spending, the district's day-to-day expenditures have continued to rise since October.

"I don't think we're getting the message here," said newly elected board member Fernando Torres. "We're about to do something very dramatic to many of our employees and our basic behavior hasn't changed."

For employees like Rosales' mother, the statistics are just the latest indicators of years of fiscal mismanagement.

He thinks his mother - who started her job in 1999 - will survive the cuts this time, but worries she could be caught up in the next round.

"It should never have gotten to this point," he said. "There should have been better administration of our funds."

One woman, who declined to give her name for fear that her husband could lose his job as a maintenance worker, expressed concern families across the Delta.

"It's so sad," she said. "So many parents will be telling their children that there's nothing to spend this Christmas."

School district Superintendent Michael Sandroussi conceded Wednesday that the timing of the layoffs is unfortunate but said every day that action is delayed costs puts Edcouch-Elsa further in the hole.

"What can I say? This is a serious situation," he said. "But we have to do what we can to keep this district afloat."

Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.Office of Rural Community Affair's Plan for Texas Disaster Recovery Assistance Funds

Planned Distribution Percentage of Total Allocation Amount
County Allocation 80 $ 1,051,992,154.40
Administration 5 $ 65,749,509.65
Planning 15 $ 197,248,528.95
State Total $ 1,314,990,193.00

Preliminary Regional Allocations to Councils of Governments

Region Location Percent of Total Damage Allocation Amount
Ark-Tex Nine counties around Texarkana .11 $ 1,164,673.03
Brazos Valley Seven counties around Bryan .85 $ 8,952,164.30
Coastal Bend 12 counties around Corpus Christi .30 $ 3,121,375.90
Central Texas Seven counties around Belton .01 $ 86,206.68
Deep East Texas 12 counties around Nacogdoches 5.64 $ 59,310,710.99
East Texas 14 counties around Kilgore .88 $ 9,224,823.25
Golden Crescent Seven counties around Victoria .03 $ 327,612.04
Houston-Galveston 13 counties around Houston 77.39 $ 814,133,492.62
South East Texas Three counties around Beaumont 13.30 $ 139,940,688.49
Lower Rio Grande Valley Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties 1.46 $ 15,347,037.37
South Texas Four counties around Laredo .04 $ 383,369.72