Brownsville ISD employees offered avenue to quit amid budget cuts
The Brownsville Independent School District will survey its 7,000-plus employees to find out who wants to participate in an early notification of resignation plan that could save the district millions of dollars in payroll costs next year.
Like all school districts in Texas, BISD is faced with reduced state funding due to a state revenue shortfall estimated as high as $27 billion over the next two-year state budget cycle. State legislators in Austin are working on the next state budget, but say it won’t be completed until late May at the earliest.
After a series of budget committee meetings, BISD has begun planning its 2011-2012 budget based on the assumption it will receive about $30 million less from the state. BISD must complete its budget before July 1, the start of its fiscal year.
By a 4-3 vote Tuesday night, the district’s Board of Trustees authorized an early notification of resignation plan that would allow the district to save payroll costs without laying anyone off. Interested employees must contact the district’s Human Resources Department and submit all required paperwork no later than April 25.
Board members Joe Colunga, Rolando Aguilar, Enrique Escobedo and Minerva Peña voted for the resolution authorizing the plan. Board President Catalina Presas-Garcia and trustees Luci B. Longoria and Christina Saavedra voted against.
According to the resolution authorizing the plan, any BISD employee who voluntarily resigns his or her position by the last day of the 2010-2011 school year will be eligible on a first-come, first-served basis to receive a one-time early-notification payment of:
ä $10,000 for teachers, nurses, librarians, counselors and speech pathologists. Eligible resignations are capped at 200.
ä $4,500 for administrators and special assignment personnel, capped at 25 resignations; ä $3,000 for classified support personnel such as bus drivers and food service workers, capped at 50 resignations.
Any employee who accepts the offer will not be eligible for employment with BISD for the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years. Also, any employee who submitted a resignation between Oct. 1, 2010 and April 8, 2011 is eligible for the early-notification payment. However, anyone who resigned in lieu of termination is not eligible, nor is anyone who was hired after Oct. 1, 2010.
The question is who will resign and whether BISD will be able to operate without hiring their replacement.
"Right now there’s a lot of speculation," Susan Fox, BISD assistant superintendent for human services, said Wednesday. "We would have to replace certain staff members because of the need for services by students. It will be on a case-by-case basis"
Should the number of resignations reach the cap levels, it would cost the district an estimated $2.26 million. How much the district saves depends on how many positions it actually closes. In a schedule of proposed budget savings submitted along with the authorizing resolution, Chief Financial Officer Tony Fuller estimates that BISD will end up closing 100 teaching and related positions for a net savings of $4.5 million, about 10 administrative positions for a net savings of $587,500 and 25 classified positions for a net savings of $475,000.
At Tuesday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Brett Springston said the early-resignation is far preferable to pink slips.
"This way we’re rewarding those employees who have taken part in the district’s success instead of giving out pink slips based on last in, first out," he said.
Fox said employees can begin submitting paperwork on Monday. She said she hopes to have a good idea of interest in the program and to be able to make a complete report to the board at its next meeting on April 19.
Inquiries should be directed to Fox, Marcella Zarate, administrator of certified personnel, or Judy Cuellar, administrator of classified personnel. All three have offices at the BISD Administration Building, 1900 Price Road.
