001good evening everyone I now call to order the special board meeting of the r Grande City gu ISD School Board the time is 5:30 this meeting was properly posted on February 21st 2025 at 4:30 p.m. we will begin with section one and proceed with roll call myself Dr Veronica barera present Mr Renee Peña vice president president Mr Eduardo Ramirez secretary absent Mr noi Castillo member Miss paty Garcia member Mr Jesse Soliz member pres Mr vasilio D member present Miss guadalope Gara interim superintendent pres thank you we will now move to section three invocation will Mr pan lead us in prayer let's go ahead and bow our heads dearly father Lord we just come before you asking for guidance Direction father give us an father uh to make uh decisions father tonight that will bring uh
002better future for our district a better future for our students father we ask you once again to guide us direct us in everything we do in Jesus name we pray amen amen I'm sorry followed with a pledge of allegiance by Mr Jesse I pledge ofi to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liy and for all Miss Becky um we had public forum people sign up first person Miss Yolanda Garcia Gracia do you want to explain that they have the amount of time yes yes you can step to the pting please uh for purposes of public comments that's governed by board policy B local each speaker will have five minutes for the presentation I'll keep typ on here I'll give you
003one for one minute left over and then I'll close my fist for the five minutes when they're up all right all right you may begin good afternoon m for ad for face dep n inance thank you thank you next person Miss Maria I [Applause] Hernandez first of all thank you for your time I'm here today first and foremost to set the record straight for my community and for the employees of this District about why I decided to file the temporary restraining order this board has deliberately misrepresented the intent of that trro to the public and I want to be clear that at no point did the trro prevent the board from conducting a meeting or from speaking to legal counsel in close session what it did enforce was the rule of law ensuring proper adherence
004to the opened meetings act it prohibited this board from hiding certain discussions behind the veil of EXE itive session particularly those concerning a board a broad class of District employees and their future with this District this trro was about transparency it was about making sure that before making life-altering decisions affecting employees who have dedicated their professional lives to this District you would look the public in the eye and explain yourselves it forced this board to discuss in an open Forum the way it's supposed to be how a reduction in force is being implemented Ed when you have yet to formally adopt a resolution recognizing a financial exting this board intended to carry out one of the most significant and impactful decisions in this District's history without proper discussion and without transparency the implications that it
005will have on our community the economic Community will go far beyond the doors of this Hall instead of dispelling fears our board president and acting super superintendent have allowed rumors to run rampant and Target list of employees if it is a rumor it was your responsibility to dispel those rumors and appease all the District employees there has been no public discussion of the criteria that will be used to determine who is affected no discussion of the process that will be followed to ensure fairness and uniformity yet you continue to claim that these cuts are necessary due to a financial deficit I here that this is a new inexperienced board and an inexperienced superintendent and I don't mean that as any disrespect I just mean that the decisions you are taking are very harsh and will
006have severe economic implications on our community and I think that you should have taken more time to review and per you know at least have some Community input from this from people who have been more experience than you have if the district is truly broke then I ask why are we paying two superintendent salaries including one whose husband helped fund your campaign why did you hire Danielle Garcia when the district already has oh hanen's legal council under a fixed contract I noticed that he did not answer my lawsuit Mr Garcia will departments like marketing whose purpose is questionable be eliminated before essential services like nutrition will you justify a praise a pay raise for Miss aala are you going to discuss all of the employees that have been hired since you took office recently will
007title changes conveniently lead to salary increases will you discuss what led to the loss of the lasso3 Grant I also demand that you publicly disclose the forensic audit that you and your social media supporters have referenced as justification for these Cuts I do not recall that this has ever been discussed in a board approved or ordered in any such meeting if it does exist I demand that it be made public because the taxpayers deserve to see it finally I remind all of you that violations of the Texas open meetings act are illegal if you have met outside of this forum or called others to discuss who would be placed on the chopping block you have broken the law if District employees were pressured by board members a spouse or sibling to fall in line or
008bend the knee that is not leadership that is extortion three of you have inherited a district with real problems that need solving and I pray that you have the wisdom to objectively move it forward the other four have played a direct role in creating those problems through political hires bad decisions and Reckless spending like politicizing and prioritizing new uniforms over proper funding of our transportation department apparently this board's for this board attire is far more important than student safety and to be clear Madam president you are not one of the three that simply inherited the problem thank you next person Marisella [Music] Salas for for missas Mr Marcus C Canales good evening everyone and school board I stand here before you tonight because I believe in democracy in our County just like in every other
009County across the country we have the right to vote for the direction we believe is best for our community and the voters have most definitely spoken they elected this board with a crystal clear mandate to fix an $18 million deficit that threatens the future of our children's education now you may hear if you haven't already from those who shamelessly want to protect High salaries and unnecessary administrative positions but let's be honest about what we uh saw under the previous administration it was an administra ative cuts it was cuts to our students their education and extracurricular activities enough is enough already the previous board had every opportunity to tackle this crisis instead they chose to reward themselves and their friends while our kids paid the price that's not leadership that is self-interest I demand better taxpayer
010demand better and deserve better our school exists to educate children not to serve as job programs for overpaid administrators it's time to move forward to put students first and to stop the financial bleeding so that every child in this District gets the education they deserve because at the end of the day we owe it to the Next Generation not the ones who put us in this mess and with that I leave you with a quote about moving forward with progress by Robert F Kennedy Senor progress is a nice word but change is its motivator and change has its enemies thank you thank you Mr Canales Mr Martin Raina good afternoon my name's Martin Rea first of all thank you for the uh opportunity to be here I'm a citizen of Rand I was raised here
011attended Roa Elementary I left for a few years to serve in the military and I moved way to work uh I earn a bachelor's I have a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with project management and I want I came here today because I believe that a reduction of force although painful is necessary uh we need to implement a program where we lean and clean out waste I have three children that work here I have over seven family members that work for the district and over 20 family members that are Educators around the valley so I do have some skin in the game my family will be affected but if we can't find a way to clean out our waste then something's got to go my information to you is simple we need to create a
012program that does not touch of course our backbone the Educators we got to take care of I agree with the the lady that came before me about the food right it's not affected by our deficit but we do have to come up with a plan where we clean we clean out the waste we got many positions and I come I came from Randa about seven years ago back I work for a multi-million dollar company I was a project manager we managed millions of dollars and the first thing you do when you have a problem is you got to clean it out and you don't clean out your backbone you don't clean out your Workforce you got to look at top you have key performance indicators who's performing and who's not and yes it's going to
013be painful and some people might have to be let go but if people are not performing then they cannot be here there's a lot of opportunities to have somebody do multiple jobs and consolidate those jobs in now I'm not saying that my opinion is perfect but we do need to have a a plan and I agree with Mr V about transparency it's got to be an open plan we got to come up with an idea and then work from there a blanket reduction I don't agree with it but if we don't cut cause something's going to give eventually and I myself voted for change yes I came here seven years ago hoping from a big city that my kids that go to school here would do better and I've seen that we go into deficits
014and then we go back and forth and we have no Unity uh we see people vot vote One Way simply because they're with this group and the job of this board and I'm speaking directly is just because you disagree with Dr barera or the Mr VI doesn't mean you don't have to agree that is the beauty of this you're not supposed to agree with your only team and that's it you're supposed to do what's best for the students and if that means you vote against your friends and your family then it's okay because it's not about you it's not about all the employees because in any big group in any Corporation there's employees out there that are just there wasting money and yes it's sad when we cut people off I've been cut off before
015but it's necessary so I would like to see a plan that is to the public that we all can see what we're reducing why we're reducing it and when it's going to happen of course without affecting our backbone which our teachers and our students so again thank you for the opport thank you Mr Rea Miss Maria Elia Ramos good evening good afternoon former student i' come here as a retired teacher uh former administrator uh but most of all I come as a friend of the school District uh I'm here to address an a misunderstanding between majority and minority in an elected Forum it seems that social media and it's out there we may not agree with it and if you don't read it that doesn't mean it's out there uh misunderstands the difference between majority
016and minority and the responsibility of each around 24 months ago Dr Bara was elected to the school board with a majority of the votes the majority of the board requested a recount by School Employees and the majority of the board would not recognize her Victory or her majority vote I came to at least two meetings and I didn't read it I came to the meetings that the board would not recognized her as the winner she was finally recognized as the elected School Board member and became the sole member of the minority of the board most of the time she was not recognized by the chairperson this was in public meetings I chose not to inquire or to ask how she was treated in closed meetings because I really think I would have taken harsh action
017it was during those two years that the board continued to allow for expenses to run unchecked remember she was the sold member of the minority with little or no voice in public meetings two years later another election different outcome Dr barera gets the majority of the vote along with the new new era candidates and lo and behold she is in the majority so explain how a member of the board who has only been given a voice for about three months be responsible for the deficit of $18 million if you can do that you need to be in Washington with Trump this new majority has the Herculean task of getting the district out of this hold that was dug by the prior Administration and the prior board did y'all catch that sat word there Herculean if
018anything we should be thanking her and backing her for staying and not giving up CU I really think I would have given up her objective is to provide the best education for all our students not a select view with the best teachers and support staff another lesson here social media is all about talking or asking questions about open meetings and closed meetings my question is this were these uh extravagant expanders discussed or decided in open or closed meetings I I I wonder you know like the pool who voted on it were the covid stiens discussed in closed or open meetings when positions were created were others allowed to apply and were these positions decided by a nonpartisan committee or were they anointed by a person sat word anointed I know what I'm saying okay my
019husband Samuel Ramos which many of you know cannot be here sent word of advice to Dr barera he is a Vietnam veteran a retired businessman and a community volunteer do to them as they did to you thank you and I love all of you thank you [Music] Melia and edel barera [Music] good afternoon everyone Madam president members of the board Miss Gara my name is sel barera and I serve as the City Commissioner for the city of Rio Grande city but tonight I'm not here in that role I'm here as a parent as a former rgc GISD teacher as a taxpayer as a concerned member of this community let's be clear this issue is not about politics as many of you have been trying to make it look like politics let's be real the real
020issue and the only issue that should matter to every single person in this room tonight is the $18 million deficit that this school district is facing right now we did not get here overnight and we certainly did not get here by accident some of the same voices I hear today opposing to the reduction in Force at central office are are are the same people that created this financial crisis they want to pretend this is about politics but this isn't political it's about priorities for for too long money that should have gone into our kids our classrooms and our teachers have been wasted on excessive salaries unnecessary positions and a bloated central office this reduction in force isn't about harming schools it's about saving them it's about ensuring that our students have the resources they need
021and that we stop throwing money on administrative excess while our classrooms go without it so let's call it as it is selfishness the people fighting to keep these inflated positions aren't fighting for your kids and you all know that they are fighting for themselves they're fighting for their friends and they're fighting for the system they help to create and that is unacceptable and I want to share a story that I that I had about a year ago and Mr Aro salena's here and Mr mace Lopez was there and Mr uh basilio viel was there in my office Mr basilio viel laugh at this day he knew this day was coming and he laughed saying it in Spanish that's unacceptable at this time I put the students first enough with the political games enough with the
022uh distractions our kids deserves the best education possible and that starts with fixing the financial disas disaster and making sure our resources go where they belong into the classrooms not into the unnecessary buery my apologies to the Thousand District employees who have suffered for years to see a real positive change coming their way to the teachers to the power professionals to those janitors without the cleaning supplies to the maintenance employees our bus drivers that some of them are here and they have know about this problem and now some of them just make it as if if it was uh one of your problems like just miss Ramos mentioned in three months to the cafeteria Personnel to the secretaries and to the rest that I might be missing to mention at this time sorry sorry sorry
023for what they have done to you thank you in advance for making all the next decisions based on what it matters the most our students God bless you thank you action items um item a discussion and action to adopt amendments to board policy dffa local Madame President yesterday afternoon legal council met with opposing Council regarding the trro a joint motion was filed to dissolve the trro effectively allowing the district to resume its deliberation and executive session for the items under legal consultation to be clear the trro in fact did bar the very specific items that started with discussion with legal councel so at the last meeting we weren't able to discuss with legal counsel the legal implications of the items uh tonight I cannot in good conscience allow the board to move forward with discussion
024on these items without first Consulting with legal counsel therefore if the board wishes to consider item A B C D E and F before you consider the items in Open Session for proper policy discussion I have to urge the board to First Take the items into executive session under 551.071 which explicitly allows for the exemption under legal consultation all of these items require extensive legal consultation for the legal implications of the sensitivity of the matter being taken place and so if the board wants to discuss those items I would first urge that you adopt the motion to move those items into executive session for item number seven and then we can come back outside to discuss the policy uh implications of the matters do we need a motion we would need a motion yes ma'am
025do I have a motion I don't move that we move items A B C D E and F into section 7 executive session do I have a second Miss paty second discuss all in favor discussion that's just want to know how come we can't have it an open session we can have discussion why we you can have discussion in Open session just not legal consultation it conflicts with my rules of professional responsibility we will come back and we will have discussion and voting out in open can we discuss what is the discussion items that we're going to be discussing in the executive so we won't go beyond that a Ab B CDE e andf m g can I ask this packet was given to us about 15 minutes ago I would have appreciated if it
026been at least today so we could examine it to go and digest all this thing in 15 minutes and make wise decisions of the future of people that are op here it it's just not right 15 minutes is not good enough do you do have a motion in a second a motion in a second all those in favor raise your right hand all right so um all those oppos same sign motion passes the time is 601 we are in executive session time is 7:22 time is 7:22 and um we are back from executive to open session item number a item a sorry discussion and action to adop a amendments to board policy dffa local could I have a motion to approve item a as presented by legal council not not yet Madame President I think
027that the superintendent is going to present the items first to the board okay and I believe she wants to join item a b and c together correct okay no okay thank you uh Madam president um and all that are here today colleagues and community members I'm up here today to present my plan for financial excy that the district so desperately needs right now uh but before I do that I want to inform my colleagues and the community as to how we began this um this plan it began about four or five weeks ago where we worked tirelessly every single day and what we basically did and was roll out a big white a piece of what is it butcher paper um and we took out the cards of all not employ names just positions and
028we compared that to what we have today compared it to what we had back in 2012 when we were at our Peak enrollment after looking at that myself and my cabinet decided you know what positions we needed to keep our district moving forward but also to ensure that we were being financially responsible at a district to ensure that we were not removing monies for where where it's most needed and that is in our schools and our students and our Educators and I'm going to tell you each and every one of you that this was not an easy decision it is still not an easy decision tonight but it is one that must be taken it is our our it is our responsibility to do so and if I wouldn't recommend this to you as a
029superintendent then I wouldn't be doing what is right by our district so here if you remember back in back in November we had our CFO Miss Diana robes uh present this to us basically what it was doing was spotlighting that we are close to an $18 million deficit in our district again that is $18 million why why are we in this $18 million deficit Rising construction cost due to poor planning and inflation force will force the district to withdraw over 7.6 million of the general fund for our current middle school project central office has also increased a net of 15% thank you excuse me despite our declining student enrollment so what does it mean to our district if we do not take immediate action we're going to have to cut make cuts to Athletics which
030could possibly mean not traveling out of the valley no overnight stays so we could reduce and meal funds cuts to Fine Arts even though our Mariachi and our band uh make it to perform uh you know to State we will not be able to fund that either cuts to UIL we would have to make cuts to all elementary campuses and only provide UIL at the middle school and the high school campuses we would have to make cut to extracurricular activities one act plays Odyssey the mind we would be taking these extra opportunities from our students we would have to make cuts to special programs not offer dual classes cut back on Career pathway opportunities we would have to make cuts to campus budgets and as we all are very well know that we have already
031made a 40% cut to our campuses that only means that the cuts would continue to our campuses as well cuts to Department budgets some of our departments currently don't even have a budget so those of you that do we would have to make cuts to those departments as well cuts to transportation services by law we do not have to offer transportation services in a two mile uh two mile radius and also with that we we also have to make note that we also have aging fleets as well that we would not be able to replenish cut to Health employee Insurance contribution currently the district provides each employee with a $300 monthly installment to help us with our insurances if that that if this we were to do nothing we would have to basically cut that
032and you would be responsible for those $300 that we currently Supply and cuts to teachers our probationary teachers and our DOI teachers and no employee raises for at least the next two to three years no classroom investments just think of your technology think of what you have in the classrooms you would have to make sure that you take extra care of what you do have because we would not be able again to replenish for the next 2 to 3 years no investments in facilities our facilities right now are not at the very best especially when our HVAC system our much needed maintenance in our campuses we have buildings that are aging roofs that need to be repaired all that would have to wait because we do not have the money to supply to be able
033to take care of our facilities and that's where our students are at and another one we would not be able or cannot finish gya Middle School at this time we do not have the money to finish gura Middle School we would have to take 7.5 million from our general fund to be able to finish gya middle school but what does the law say or what does it mean if the district takes no immediate action I think I went back no I'm sorry even after all these Cuts we will still not save enough money to balance our deficit 188 million in cuts to non Staffing means slashing everything I just presented to you in half what does the law state it states that if we have a decrease of more than 20% in unassigned general fund
034balance or a pro a projected reduction of 20% compared to the current year or if we have an unexpected major expense in the excess of 15% this current year which we do have which is gurua Middle School the $18 million is NE nearly a 50% decrease in our general fund far exceeding the number one law to be able to enter into this reduction enforce plan and the second one that we meet is that we do owe 7.6 million to finish gura Middle School which is more than the 15% of our general fund now this was not something that was just thought of or over or basically just uh my Administration or also you know Consulting with legal we also reached out to our financial advisors and I have a letter there but basically what it
035states there it says action should be considered in order to Halt the rapid decline of the district's general fund balance they even went as far asked to suggest that we do enter a reduction en Force plan the recommendation to declare Financial ex ex excy and reduction in force of excess Personnel again I have consulted with legal to draft a resolution for the approval to declare Financial excy that would allow for a reduction in force our Workforce specific specifically and I will repeat that and I hope I make myself very clear the reduction in force is in specific to central office Personnel the plan that I have created to reduce our Workforce again Target central office makes zero cuts to our campuses and toour programs this is just a little bit of data to support why
036we are having to ask for a reduction in force plan if you look at our student enrollment back in 1718 where we were at we had a decline of 99.27% and 2324 teacher hiring respectively declined in 23 24 we were at a 9 52% however and I know this has been presented before but I want to make it very clear while our teaching our positions and our student enrollment was declining central office administration kept on going up if you look at 2324 we Rose by 6.31% % if you take the 9% of student decrease it puts us at a net of 15% of personnel over staffed at central office excuse [Music] me what does the rift plan look like if you look at the very top where it says 2425 this year currently we would
037be saving close to 1.6 million because we're already at the latter part of the year but if you look at 25 26 we would be getting the full amount of close to $5 million our current attrition savings again would be close to one I can't see the number almost uh 1.1 and for next year we will see the full amount of 2 milon 175 if we do the bond reclass or with the bond reclassification I'm sorry for gurya middle school that we still have to pay out it would give us a total budget impact this year alone the remaining of this year of 10, 218,000 so our 2425 projected or or sorry budget deficit is at 18 million and you look at next year you'll see there will we get the full amounts if we
038do enter to the you know with this reduction in Forest plan we would be able to save the full amount of 10,564 with the total Savings in 2 years of 20 million almost 21 million I urge the board that we do what is right I myself as a superintendent of the district have taken a cut for the first months these are necessary reductions to central office we must do what is right right for our students for our schools and our Educators I don't say this lightly in front of each and every one of you and I do not like that the word politics is thrown around I have been in this district for years I have formed friendships I have many colleagues friends that I did not look at or try to protect we did
039it with Integrity we did it with what we needed to do to ensure that our district remained financially responsible to the people that matter the most I hurt here tonight and my team hurts with me this was not easy to do but Board of Trustees it is necessary to do thank you thank you Miss [Applause] G we move on to item eight discussion and action to adopt amendments to board policy dffa local can I have a M president on dfaa local what this policy does it it outlines the criteria that the board would be looking at when considering employees for the reduction in force this policy would bring in line the policy to the up the next item which would be the actual resolution thank you could I have a motion to approve item a
040as presented by legal council motion Mr Jesse motion and can I have a second second Miss paty I want any discussion yes going to read a little bit uh uh we say we have an $18 million deficit and that's probably true but the truth of the matter like uh Miss Gara just said 7.6 million was uh to pay for the gria Middle School of which all the previous board supported it and you miss barera fought to make sure that it had a full kitchen and a cafetorium so we contributed in many ways to the deficit but the kids from lria needed it so I'm just going to say there are other uating circumstances I want to read one last thing also uh we need to understand one simple thing Eddie Ramirez was president in six
041out of the seven years Mr Peña under Mr Peña and Eddie Ramirez's leadership uh basically uh opened the positions never closed and when you say sometimes you look at uh the previous board sometimes I think why don't you look at the seat next to you because he was president in five out of the last six years and the last thing I'm going to say is Ed armz you did not come to our meeting to voice your opinion either way does not absolve you about the massacre that's about to happen today any more discussion all those in favor raise your right hand all those opposed same sign two and motion passes next we move to Item B consider and take possible action to adopt a resolution declaring financial excy and authorizing a reduction in force for
042Real granded City guya ISD puru to board policy dff a local cea legal and the Texas Education code 44 uh 011 Council um can you read the resolution into the record [Music] Madame President members of the board I'm going to be reading the resolution into the record resolution declaring a financial exigency and authorizing a reduction in force for R Grand City guya Independent School District whereas the RoR Grand City guya Independent School District Board of Trustees is responsible for governing and overseeing the management of the district in accordance with Texas Education Code section 11151 a b and d which grants the board the exclusive power in duty to adopt rules bylaws and policies necessary for the proper administration of the district whereas pursuant to Texas Education Code 44.4 the board has the duty to adopt
043an annual budget and in accordance with Section 11.1 1511 B9 And1 to monitor the district's finances and ensure that the superintendent is properly maintaining the district's Financial procedures and Records whereas the board is authorized under SE under Texas Education Code section 44.0 one1 and 19 Texas administrative code subsection 10.21 to declare a financial excy if the district's financial position is such that its resources are insufficient to support the existing academic programs or to finance the full compensation of Staff of the current or succeeding fisal year whereas under board policy cea legal a financial excy May declared under various conditions one a decrease of more than 20% in unassigned general fund balance per student in the weighted daily average attendance over the last two years or a projected reduction of 20% compared to the current year
044and an unanticipated major expense including significant repair costs litigation expenses or tax refunds in excess of 15% of the current year general fund balance whereas the district is expect ing a budget deficit of over $177,800 th000 due to unsustainable Financial commitments which if unaddressed would deplete nearly in half the district's 32 million general fund balance within this current year whereas the financial excy is a result of the following factors an unanticipated major expense due to inflation outpacing construction costs the district must now withdraw from the general fund to complete a middle school project a financial burden unforeseen in the initial budget budgeting process this expense exceeds 15% of the current Year's general fund balance thus meeting the standard set forth under CA legal for declaring a financial excy and two a 20% decrease in the
045unassigned general fund balance per student since the 2017 2018 school year the district has experienced a 99.27% decrease in student enrollment while teacher hiring patterns have decreased by 9.52% however during the same time period central office non-teaching administrative staff increased by 6.31% resulting in an net overall increase of nearly 15% more non-teaching staff today than at the peak enrollment of the district's history this overstaffing has contributed to the district's Financial instability and is a direct cause of the projected 20% reduction in the unassigned general fund balance per student whereas the financial projection certified by The District's financial advisor confirms that absent immediate action the general fund will continue to decline at an unsustainable rate potentially endangering the district's ability to meet future financial obligations and maintain essential academics and operational Services exhibit a attached which
046is the financial advisor letter whereas in accordance with board policy dffa local the superintendent has determined that the district must reduce personel cost and has considered multiple auctions including salary reductions and furlows but has found that the the reduction in force is the most prudent and necessary course of action to ensure the district's long-term stability and close exhibit B whereas before recommending the reduction in force the superintendent conducted a thorough review of The District's financial position explored multiple cost saving measures and determined that salary reductions furlows and hiring freezes alone are not sufficient to eliminate the budget deficit without causing further harm to the district's ability to provide a highquality education whereas the superintendent has determined that reducing salaries would result in the loss of Highly qualified employees to neighboring school districts that offer more
047competitive wages further exacerbating Staffing challenges in the real Grand City guya Independent School District whereas the superintendent has already implemented a hiring freeze for vacant positions that are not essential to the operations or instruction but natural attrition alone is insufficient to address the targeted Staffing imbalances as it does not strategically reduce the positions where the area of overstaffing exists whereas the superintendent has also reviewed campus and student program budgets and found that campuses have already experienced a 40% decrease in funding over the last two years making further reductions in student facing resources impracticable and detrimental to the district's ability to remain competitive with other districts whereas the superintendent has determined that further budget cuts to student programs and campus operations alone are not a viable solution and that the burden of the financial stability should
048not fall on the students to maintaining Staffing levels that are no longer justified by current enrollment Trends whereas the superintendent has concluded that a reduction in force is necessary to align the district Staffing levels with enrollment numbers to ensure that resources are directed towards the classrooms and restore fiscal stability in a manner that prioritizes student learning over administrative excess now therefore be it resolved that one the Board of Trustees of the the City guya Independent School District takes seriously its fiduciary responsibility to ensure the health and long-term sustainability of the district upon careful review of The District's financial position and after extensive discussion with the superintendent financial advisers and key stakeholders the board find it necessary and prudent to declare a state of financial excy pursuant to Texas Education Code 44011 and board policy cea
049legal two the superintendent has determined that without immediate corrective action the district's Current financial trajectory will jeopardize its abilities to adequately fund instructional programs and essential operations the general fund which serves as the backbone of the district is projected to be depleted nearly in half within a single fiscal year creating an unattend situation that demands Swift and decisive action the superintendent has exhausted all reasonable alternatives to stabilize the budget including salary reductions furlows a hiring freeze and campus budget reductions but none of these measures alone are sufficient to address an over $7,800 th000 budget deficit as such the superintendent has determined that a reduction in force is necessary to Bringing Staffing levels in line with student enrollment preserving essential student services and restore fi fiscal balance three the board as the governing body of the
050district is empowered by Texas Education Code 11151 and 44.0 one1 to take any necessary AC action to ensure the district's Financial solvency and operational Integrity as such the board formerly declares a financial exigency acknowledging that the district meets multiple statutory conditions set forth under cea legal including a projected 20% reduction in the unassigned general fund balance per student in weighted average over the last two years or for this budget season to an anticipated major expense that exceeds 50% 15% of the current Year's General fund the budget due to inflation outpacing cost for the construction this board did not create the financial crisis at hand but it will not stand idle while the district resources are eroded by an action the board recognizes that fiscal responsibility is not about preserving past decisions about but about making
051the right choices for the future choices that prioritize students classrooms and instructional Integrity over inefficiency and administrative excess four as stewards of public funds the board remains steadfast in its commitment to sound financial management and strategic decision that places the needs of students first while difficult the actions today are necessary to prevent the district from spiraling deeper into Financial instability this board believes that one students should never bear the burden of poor financial planning the solution to this crisis should not come at the expense of student programs campuses or academic resources two a well-run district must live within its means budgeting decisions must be based on realistic Revenue projection sustainable Staffing patterns and responsible financial planning three difficult decisions must be made with integrity and fairness a reduction in force will be conducted thoroughly and
052equitably ensuring that the district maintains the staff necessary to provide a highquality education now therefore the board directives to the superintendent are as follows one the superintendent will develop and implement the Staffing adjustment plan that aligns the district's financial and operation AAL needs while prioritizing instructional integrity and student services the plan shall be conducted in accordance with board policy dffa local and applicable state law including to the following the following considerations shall guide the process number one administrative non-teaching positions shall be the primary focus of the reduction two no campus Personnel shall be subject to reduction three central office overstaffing shall shall be the primary area of adjustments ensuring that the District Operations are lean efficient and necessary four positions directly associated with students and campus operations will be protected to prevent any negative impact
053on the instructional quality five the review shall include both professional and Atwell employees from Central and admin central office and administrative departments to ensure fair and a comprehensive reduction B selection criteria for employee reductions the superintendent shall app apply the following sequential criteria when determining which positions will be affected by the reduction in force this criteria shall be applied in sequential order to the extent necessary to meet budgetary and operational requirements for example in instances where there is only one position title in a category identified for the reduction the district's personnel roster as being proposed for deletion for lack of need or alternatively that all incumbent employees with the same job title have been identified for deletion it is not going to be required to apply the following evaluation the evaluation are as follow number
054one position need the superintendent shall evaluate each position based on its necessity to the functions of the district redundant positions overlapping duties and roles that are not essential to The District Operations shall be reviewed to determine whether they should be eliminated or Consolidated this determination shall be made in consultation with the district's leadership and cabinet members to ensure that central office positions are aligned with actual needs followed by qualifications performance evaluations extra duties professional experiences and lastly seniority the board concludes to uphold its commitment to financial responsibility and student focused decision- making the Board of Trustees of the Rio Grande City guya Independent School District formally adopts this resolution which shall take effective immediately upon its passage the board hereby authorizes and directs the superintendent to proceed ceed with a reduction in force in full
055compliance with board policy dffa local CA legal and all applicable state and federal laws the superintendent shall ensure that the implementation of Staffing adjustment plan is conducted with fairness transparency and adherence to due process and shall be provide and shall provide the board with updates throughout the execution of the plan the superintendent shall ensure that a copy of the resolution is filed with the commissioner of education and the Texas Education Agency and that concludes the res reading of the resolution into the record thank you could I have a motion to approve Item B as presented by legal councel motion motion by Jesse do I have a second a second by paty um any discussion all those in favor please raise your right hand um all oppose same sign and motion passes next we move to
056item C consider and take possible action ction to approve the superintendent reduction and force plan in accordance to the resolution declaring financial excy and board policy dffa local Madame President that was presented to you on Executive session could I have a motion to approve item CS presented in executive session by legal councel motion Mr Jesse can I have a second second by Mr Rene discussion ma'am and discussion I just want to say that uh uh in my opinion that uh maybe sometimes you do need uh reductions in force but you need to do it evenly you need to be fair and just and I think the reduction in force tonight I call it the massacre in Fort wringle is only targeting a group of people that are on the wrong side politically so that's just
057my opinion thank you any other discussion agree with that and I think that uh this is it could have waited a little bit more to see what funding we were going to get from the state you know um like Mr said maybe it's necessary but the thing is we could have waited a little bit more to do this before doing it today any further discussion [Music] Mr Jessie can I read this sure go ahead Mr J he has a statement he can he can go ahead and read it so when I started down this journey of Public Service I knew that there'd be times like this today any action we will take will be scrutinized and reviewed and possibly criticized and that is okay I expect nothing less from the public at first I was
058against the Riff I hope that there was a solution to this problem without engaging a course of action that would affect people negatively in any way last week like most of you that tuned in heard a number 18 million that's where I figured this is unacceptable I also reflected on that number and I thought to myself this was preventable I'm going to reiterate that this was preventable the current fiscal state of this District was preventable what else can I say and perhaps maybe they said it right now may be necessary I am of the opinion that a riff is inevitable I will go further in saying that our review this recommendations from the superintendent and legal counsel and we heard how however I feel in order for us to continue self-governance we need to be
059open to this and riff is unavoidable I am from here I graduated from here I know the potential of this District I am not oblivious to the fact that a riff affects people but how do how do we soften or change what is happening here we don't contemplation decisions like this have to occur and I'm going to say it again it was preventable I do get calls from the community what are the what's going on with the equipment what's going on with this what's what's the situation with the buses and all this how can we how can this continue to be Mission critical or Vision critical how can those Services continue if we're in the red we're facing decreasing enrollment which we know we we saw the numbers right here that were pointed out we
060have a situation where uh the governor may decide may or may not decide we don't know what's going to happen right but we are in this situation the decrease in enrollment may be accelerated or it may slow down it may go other ways there's no crystal ball on that I feel that as a community and as a board we need to drown the voices that are obscuring the purpose of this District the purpose of this district is the students and I was here earlier for an AP uh presentation right so the students received Awards and I was looking at that emblem it's up there it's over here it says our vision our future and if you notice the Stars they start right there with students that's the first one there the students then it says
061parents Community Educators and board but it starts off with the students while I was sitting there I was reflecting on that and I started thinking we need a reset thank you for listening and God bless uh good evening uh of course my name is rette Peña I was an educator here at the rgc GISD for over 25 years it's not an easy decision to make tonight and it's one them is deemed necess necessary uh this $18 million deficit did not come overnight it has been coming for quite a few years and I can attest to that because these stories are not new stories that just started I started hearing this stories maybe about 10 years ago where what we're facing today could have been taken care of before and fortunately it didn't we had many
062means to be able ble to fix this situation but we didn't we refused to look the other way we refused to Kick the Can down the road and say let somebody else take care of it not me today we stand before you telling you that we are going to take care of the problem and it's going to get you it's going to get tough before it gets better so once again community of R be assure be reassured that as a former educator I put your children first thank you thank you when this new board became elected we knew the district was in a financial deficit and we recently were educated on our deficit actually being bigger and greater at 17.8 million if this 18.8 million deficit is left unaddressed we have heard by Miss Gara
063by our attorney by our financial advisers it will severely impact the district's ability to serve our students effectively we heard it from Miss Gara everything she presented would directly and negatively affect and impact our students the Staffing imbalance at central office where positions have increased by a 15% in the past few years despite a decline again I I State this uh despite a decline in student enrollment is a problem that we can find a solution at this point I understand that the guya middle school is also part of this problem but I believe that that is something that was needed those of you that have been to the guya ele uh Middle School know that it is that school is needed and it's something that right now we have no control over that that money
064has to go those $7.6 million have to go to that school to finish it and so I believe that at this time that we have no control over that what we do have control over is the Staffing imbalance at central office this board has the fiduciary duty to act now and prevent further Financial cuts to our schools and our students therefore the only responsible option is a targeted reduction in Force at central office ensuring resources remain focused on our students our teachers and our classrooms at this time the board is faced with probably the most difficult situation any board could be in that being said I want to make sure that everybody understands that this situation was inherited again to this new board we did not create this financial crisis but we will not sit
065back and allow it to worsen we understand that this is a difficult decision but doing nothing would be very very very irresponsible our priority is to protect students teachers and classrooms ensuring that the district remains financially stable we're taking action now so that our schools can continue to serve this community for years to come thank you all those in favor please raise your right hand all those oppose same sign motion passes next we move to item D discussion and possible action to approve a settlement agreement with Lon water supply for the resolution of past due water rights and water meter expenses for district facilities including guya middle school and to authorize the superintendent to execute the agreement and process necessary payments Madame President legal council recommends the board approve this item this item is regarding
066the uh ending issues regarding water rights for previous buildings and facilities in addition to Thea Middle School uh meters and water rights there and so while there's been a lot of back and forth and this issue has lingered on for a couple of years for the district Mr Garcia helped secure an agreement with onion water supply in order to put an end to the entire issue saving us money down the line with this and so we recommend the board approve this item thank you and again we we have to restate here that this is another problem that was inherited to this new board majority where this has been quite like you said the can has been kicked and tossed for the future and at this time uh we thank our Council and M Gara for
067taking the initiative and getting things done uh we need to do this in order to to move forward do I have a motion to approve item d as presented by legal I still move that we Pro item DS presented by legal can I have a second second discussion Mr Jesse and now any discussion yeah I just want to know I just want to say basically uh I think the lon water supply is holding the school district hostage for us to pay two thou almost $2,000 per kid for water for water for per individual is just way out of sight I I I think it's too much money I know that the contractor is going to charge us 207,000 but Lon I want everybody to know right now that Lon is holding our district hostage we
068need something that's fair and just and now we're going to have to pay a premium price because according to what they said the contractor is holding us hostage so for everybody says I don't want to use the word blackmail because it's not blackmail they're just holding us hostage and uh um again we do know that that's a lot of money and it's something that basically what we were discussing was that this is something we have to do because we do have about a $20,000 fee every month that we have to pay our contractors uh for not having that water available for them to finish the guya middle school and so what's going to happen is we''re thinking okay do we not pass this cuz it's a lot of money or do we pass pass this
069and we kind of came to the conclusion that if we pass this um we'll be able we'll actually be saving money because we'll be able to avoid all those extra costs that are coming with not opening the water for our school and it would just delay the opening of our our gurya middle school that's correct I want to point also that because we are unable to finalize this issue the district is currently going to be charged 20,000 per month by the contractor and the longer you delay this the more months you're going to pay $20,000 a month for in addition to potentially legal costs exceeding the cost benefit analysis of the settlement so we think this is the quickest cheapest way to move forward even though it's not the most Fair way to move forward
070and that's the bottom line not the fairest way Lon a water supply is not treating our district fairly and did you look into that contract on um what what the comp construction compan is uh building us every month yes that's the 20,000 cuz we haven't connected and they need to be able to continue moving forward with the construction but they can't do so cuz we're we don't have any water so they got to test okay and I would like to add to that Madam pres president after uh May if we do not pay uh those uh monies that are being asked of us the the $220,000 will triple so we will be in in in a lot more uh you know having to pay out okay I I understand ma'am that the contractor's fees there
071no doubt about it but like the then then said Lon water supply is treating this District unfairly and overcharging us and again I'm going to say it I said it in a previous meeting water um water the water um corporations the the water rights should have been asked for and this should have been done by the contractor that started the school you don't wait you don't do a school and then you go and ask for water rights maybe it's that's why we're in this mess because things weren't done the way they should have been done and so now we're paying theice PR of that and um all those in favor raise your right hand all those opposed motion passes next we move on to item e discussion and possible action to authorize the superintendent to
072enter an interlocal agreement with neighboring school districts for bus driver transportation services and to approve all necessary expenditures related there to Madam president I want to make it very clear first and foremost is that I we respect and we think very highly of our bus drivers and our transportation um the reason that I am asking for this because at one point um we were being told that we were going to have a group of bus drivers that would not be coming in in a group so I had to be proactive I had to ensure that our students were being transported to school on a daily basis and this was the only reason this was the only way I could make sure that our students would be busted to their campuses so Madame President I ask
073that you please approve this item uh could I have a motion to approve item e as presented by legal council motion Mr Jesse can I have a second by py discussion and any discussion yes uh I would just like to say that what we need is to hire the we lost eight bus drivers we hired three or four there are other ones available the bottom line is we need the bus drivers that we lose and if we don't have the bus drivers that means we can't complete the routes uh and that's all I'm trying to say I don't think we need to go to our neighbor District so Roma be holling basically Roma or La Hoya or ID Academy is going to be uh basically busing our kids well if we get the bus drivers
074we have the buses what we're lacking right now was bus drivers and we had eight hired two or three of them we should have hired them a long time ago but the what missing here today is bus drivers and the bus drivers are mad because they were promised raises and they were promised uh no insur uh their insurance were going to be paid not by us but they were and they're mad so at the end of the day just give them the bus drivers that they need and we'll be okay and that's all I have to say any other discussion how many are missing man five we out of eight we hired five we hired three I'm sorry do we have any applicants or anybody that uh is interested in those those positions anybody that
075already Mr can you uh please say a little bit more on that I know you had discussions with the director of Transportation as well Mo was a question Mr custo how many positions are available if there's any applicants at this point and uh can we rehire anybody that that has left the district so we had eight vacancies available and uh we did uh hire three we did have one resignation yesterday so we did fill in that spot with the additional three so we're looking to hire four how many did we lose k eight and and that was when when did we lose the bus drivers this is uh this this fiscal year this fiscal year so we're we we're missing eight bus drivers correct or have have left our district so so we hired three
076that cuts it to five we had one resignation back to six we hired that one so we're back to five okay let me ask a simple question have they been asking for bus drivers for a good long while yes sir okay so again another I'm going to restate it another problem that this board and Marda have inherited so the bus drivers we've been talking to them for a long time and visitors are very upset because they have high uh students in their in their buses a lot of high amount of students that they have to drop off their routes um are are really are too much for them and lastly their wages they have not gotten a raise in years and they're very upset and with just you know with a with just they they're
077they they should be upset and um when Miss Gara heard this of course we're going to try to do what we we can and we've always told people I told M Gara M Gara I told a lot of people that we're going to fight for racist but I have never promised anybody and much less in the beginning of our term for us to get racist it's something we've said it it's something we we want to do but it's something that's going to take a while and I've always told people it's going to take a while because we're in really bad shape and so um I think our bus drivers have been doing an awesome job um Miss Gara respects them we respect them but we needed something fast she said Veronica what are we going
078to do if our bus drivers don't come to work our kids are going to be left waiting in the cold or in the Heat or we're going to have to shut down schools and so we decided you know what be proactive about it have this agreement ready and you go on and you run with it all right and so everybody understands that why it is that she did this uh but of course we will be considering um new applications for buz driver so that their load is not as heavy so thank you how long has how long and then can we move on Mar how long have they been asking for bus drivers call call question received a memorandum um I I called a I called the question answer please how long have they been
079asking for bus drivers U Mr has been consistent about asking for bus drivers yes sir I didn't hear you he's been consistent about asking this year for bus drivers D cor we do have a motion to call the question they've been asking for bus drivers for a while correct yes okay for more than uh 3 months yes okay uh I got one more question what would be the cost to hire bus drivers and not from here to ensure him and the liability of them noting the routes and all this other stuff that goes along with it you know there's more to it right I I wouldn't I wouldn't know the answer Mr Goo I wouldn't know the answer to that that's a good question sir I I'd like to make a comment you know this
080is what happens with General hiring freezes because they don't Target the problem area what it does General free is prevent prevent prevented hiring of these bus drivers the freezes prevented this the hiring of this bus drivers that we are needed now Kao second question would be how competitive are we with neighboring school districts when it comes to uh bus driver pay uh I know we're we're behind we're behind way behind or or close about $175 to $2 behind per hour thank you per hour okay thank you so much and so we already so let me ask have discussion the superintendent has the authority I I know we have a hiring free but if she sees an emergency she has authority to go and hire them Mr to answer can I answer your question cuz you're
081just saying that I have the authority to hire hold on we we're in charge of professionals she she's in charge of the pair of professionals and I'm trying to say we need bus drivers and it's an emergency just going higher are before making that decision Mr baral I did have a conversation Mr Selenas had a conversation with our transportation director Mr Juan Garcia and it was recommended Mr s uh Mr Salas can attest to that where you did ask if we could do with that number of bus drivers for now whether that would mean to uh that would mean that we would consolidate rout routes and his answer was yes if the answer coming straight from Mr Garcia would have been to me no ma'am we need to hire the five bus drivers immediately to
082ensure that our students are taking s safely to their campuses I can assure you Mr viel that I would have a pushed to to hire those five bus drivers Mr Selenas would you like to add to that so U to piggy back with Miss godd is mentioning what happens it's a it's a two-prong effect when you have a shortage of bus drivers that we haven't hired your pull from our motor pool or mechanics who are also CDL certified they can also drive we do have office Personnel who is CDL certified and can also drive so when there's a shortage of bus drivers these people are pulled to fill the routes so if you fulfill the route obligation now you are taking a hit in the mechanic area okay or the dispatch area so when we
083sat down said okay we know we're in a general freeze like Mr P mentioned what can we do and we did mention this with the bus drivers when we had a meeting with them we mg and I met with them what can we do so we do not enter a safety situation with our children and we hired three per three bus drivers again we lost one last yesterday that means we're going to bring in four yeah but when you lose eight bus drivers so when you hire three I can understand the frustration of bus drivers they're pounded with two and three routes at the same time they have they're pounded with routes they don't even know and my question is it's an emergency our kids need to get to school and back home and that's
084what we need to do we need to give them there are certain things that are emergencies and certain things that are not but bus drivers is one thing that we sorely need and uh there there should be no exception a bun bus driver leaves hire another one because they're hard to come by correct correct and that's what we we we've agreed to do correct yes ma'am all right ma'am so did we vote on this no not yet um so all those in favor please raise your right hand and all those opposed same sign motion passes next moving on to item F discussion and possible action to approve the employment contract for the superintendent of schools of R Grande City Guru Madame President legal council presented to the board in executive session under personnel and under
085um legal council the superintendent for post contract uh legal council recommending that the board approve the contract as presented in executive session thank you this would by the way make miss garasa the permanent superintendent no longer inter thank you could I have a motion to approve item f as presented by legal council so move item f as presented by legal councel Mr R and can I have a second Miss py discussion any sir can you wait a minute yeah I just want to say any discussion okay I'm sorry uh the only thing I want to say uh one of the most important things we have is what we call the refined Ada and that is the that's how we get paid and lately our refined Ada has been atrocious it's been bad so miss Gara
086you need to work on that because it it is it is not bad it's terrible and we need to work on it Mr Vel I am very aware of our attendance sir and I will do that and I I attribute this to the cold weather and a lot of kids sick so I know you you'll do good working on it um any other discussion all those in favor please raise your right hand and all those opposed same sign motion passes next moving on to item G discussion and action on the approval of the 20124 2025 effective schools framework ESF Focus support Grant targeted Improvement plan tip submission Miss Gara uh yes ma'am this is just basically uh you know we have to bring this to uh to board to be able to submit our Target
087uh support plan we have one campus right now veterans Middle School who's part of the effective schools framework Grant and part of that this is actually their second year and part of that is to submit that target support Improvement plan that shows the improvements that they will be conducting at that campus to improve so I ask for your approval at this time okay can I have a motion to approve item f as presented so move item f as presented and can I have a second by py any discussion it's for and just refer the record it's item G I'm sorry item G oh okay as right as presented by Miss Gara all those in favor please raise your right hand and all those opposed did Mr Castillo did you yes raise so all um same
088sign motion passes moving to item H consider and take possible action to approve the planning and execution of the 19th annual superintendent Golf Classic at Top Golf on March 24th 2025 going Madam president I ask that you approve this item and I also invite the community to go out there and support on March 24th or you know for our 19th Top Golf uh classic it is something that is for a great purpose the the monies that we collect there are for scholarships for our seniors so again I ask the community to unite and help us make this one of the best ones so thank you can I have a motion to approve item H as presented by Miss gar as presented by Miss gara Mr R can I have a second second Mr Jesse any
089discussion all those in favor raise your right hand all those oppose same sign motion passes section six executive the time is now 8:20 p.m. no we're for execu do okay so or personel matters we can go straight to item number nine closing and business and adjournments all right so um Item B ad jerman being there no further items left on the agenda I now declare this meeting adjourned at 8 8:20 p.m. thank you everybody for being here and have a great evening