[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6639300,"mediaKeyId","3799025-c308dc4ff1e35fd588d5c54f7e884db3","parentId",3799025,"title","Edcouch-Elsa ISD board accepts administration recommendation to nonrenew two Chapter 21 contracts","audioSeconds",100,"startMs",5833000,"endMs",5933000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3799025-c308dc4ff1e35fd588d5c54f7e884db3&start=5833&end=5933","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3799025-c308dc4ff1e35fd588d5c54f7e884db3/thumbnail_5833000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6639300/Texas/Edcouch-Elsa-ISD-board-accepts-administration-recommendation-to-nonrenew-two-Chapter-21-contracts","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6639300-28507f703c33e9e458cdba8dddd95c54/orig.mp4?Expires=1770789876&Signature=hgEd7TbTvOncEP1mGxLACBQZodB65Nmx9tCQaTcgOi8UzbVvHH8KzR~h-XkZm~FTfsZv-7NOj4fx3W5R7ljbnuj-APoOyZvx4Bj0XOj8xgo7SihIq~g4GWSre8IoI60cvxR8gTwhvC21baZ~x3p-W4RRv7y1xQkeuyvw97kHmcjGOl76WxmkV3Amoe3M5aYrHfyPQ7QaREGkmAgEOa7kPMACz~uaRcN31Y5rEymNMUsf6ZoMRECNxnFKE55YROXUTEICZWkmdwz78BRufMOzLh3PoEP00YgevAM7xAlyddcEFiG0XSEyMMG2Dr2rVXEVsEiXuAJlgkCt98Vo1548zg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","EdcouchElsaISD","date","2025-06-08T07:20:44Z","article","The Edcouch-Elsa Independent School District Board of Trustees voted June 7 to accept the administration’s recommendation to nonrenew two Chapter 21 contracts and approved other personnel actions after meeting in executive session.

Following a closed executive session held under the Texas Government Code provisions on personnel and legal consultation, legal counsel advised the board to accept the administration’s recommendation to move forward with nonrenewal of two Chapter 21 contracts identified in the executive session by initials (JP and IF). The board then voted to accept that recommendation.

The chair subsequently presented a separate personnel action described in the executive-session agenda — ‘‘discussion and action regarding personnel considering appointment, resignation, retirement, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer and employees’’ — and the board, on the advice of counsel, accepted the administration’s recommendation on that item as well. The transcript records affirmative votes for the motions with the chair calling for “Aye.” The board later reconvened and stated that “no action was taken in closed session” and then proceeded to act as recorded.

The transcript does not record the full names of the employees whose Chapter 21 contracts were nonrenewed; the meeting minutes or personnel files will contain the formal notices and legally required written statements to affected employees. The board’s action was consistent with the advice of legal counsel and was taken in open session after a closed deliberation.

No further public details about the reasons for the nonrenewals were provided in the open portion of the meeting.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","June 7, 2025 at 12:30 PM - Special Board Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","After an executive session, trustees voted to accept administration recommendations to nonrenew two Chapter 21 teacher contracts and approved additional personnel actions discussed in closed session.","taxTitle","EDCOUCH-ELSA ISD, School Districts, Texas","taxId",59106,"location","Texas","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6639304,"Edcouch-Elsa ISD reviews 2025–26 budget projections as HB2 alters teacher and special education funding",481,684000,1165000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3799025-c308dc4ff1e35fd588d5c54f7e884db3&start=684&end=1165","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3799025-c308dc4ff1e35fd588d5c54f7e884db3/thumbnail_684000.jpg","/articles/6639304/Texas/Edcouch-Elsa-ISD-reviews-202526-budget-projections-as-HB2-alters-teacher-and-special-education-funding","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6639304-879daaa7616f4532fff75766e7d6c84d/orig.mp4?Expires=1770789876&Signature=SNCLku-0h22u5H0lGI4yks30WYD465EQEiTME7G2RzZ1iApVih-0YqGksxp4SMkEOCx4dYc0IEvZCbRPujpQHmNDfUvBD~vFzZW5fGX3-U0UYVWL1XdijuacLjcSjy6Etud7KZLl6r8as3Btg3VPOUB1-IJZuCACh9iWXnfSNBlvSsx1FXgo1ZwYt8GX3Muhh2i7QP--GoW2i~aT5A63nhX-9OC9teBqfVGx5Q0zcyn~mJOnfJBz5Zm9cuS5kkErOLHu~eWmO5Z8qy7lfXiOCBpTK5TL1Y5KSkaxgHLPtNmUavHikzKF794wUSoo6I0kU5WpDAY2kpTqqz~YZLB5cA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Edcouch-Elsa Independent School District trustees received a detailed briefing June 7 on how recent state school finance changes and local enrollment trends affect the district’s 2025–26 budget.

Sylvia Garza, a consultant engaged by the district to assist with budget preparation, told trustees that House Bill 2 — signed June 4, 2025 — includes multiple allotments and mandates that will affect district finances. Garza said the bill raises the basic allotment by $55 per student, establishes a $106-per-student basic-cost allotment, and creates a support-staff retention allotment of $45 per average daily attendance (ADA) for eligible non-teaching positions. Garza said HB2 also requires uniform pay increases for classroom teachers in districts with enrollment under 5,000: teachers with three to four years’ experience must be paid $4,000, and teachers with five or more years’ experience must be paid $8,000 (the bill provides no mandated increases for teachers with zero to two years’ experience).

Garza presented district projections that estimate a $3.3 million increase in revenue under the new law; she said approximately $1.8 million of that increase must be used for compensation (teachers and eligible staff) and roughly $1.3 million will be tied to specific allotments and therefore is not fully unrestricted. Garza warned that to receive the maximum available funding tied to some allotments the district may need to be at its maximum compressed tax rate; the tax rate itself is adopted later in the budget calendar (the district has until September to adopt a tax rate).

Garza also reviewed internal accounting and grant-management issues that reduced available cash during the current year. She told the board that a journal entry posting the maturity of a certificate of deposit had previously inflated interest revenue by about $8 million and was corrected; there were missed indirect-cost claims on federal grants, unclaimed drawdowns for a UTRGV Head Start childcare grant and a mental-health intern grant (about $200,000), and teacher-incentive allotment payments were not properly budgeted for the 2024–25 year (one pending payment cited was $124,739). She also identified the lack of checks and balances for substitute-pay (“sub hub”) payments, which she said amount to roughly $1.2 million and should be tied to specific employee absences.

Garza recommended conservative assumptions while TEA (Texas Education Agency) finance templates are completed and certified values are received from the appraisal district in July. She said the district’s current ADA used in modeling is 3,706 (the consultant’s model used 3,841), and staff will adjust assumptions when final values and attendance numbers are available. Garza presented a budget-to-budget comparison that currently projects a $3,396,355 deficit for 2025–26 under the preliminary assumptions, and she outlined cost-saving measures that contributed roughly $1,060,183 in projected savings from resignations and retirements as well as other potential savings through hiring freezes, attrition, staffing reviews and a planned consolidation study.

Trustees asked about timing, the district’s tax-rate options and whether the district could allocate additional local dollars to cover staff not explicitly covered by HB2. Board members emphasized that any permanent pay increases must be budgeted as recurring salary costs and that the board will monitor the district’s projections as state and TEA data arrive. Garza said she will update the board when TEA’s summary-of-finance template and certified property values are available.

No budget adoption vote was taken at the meeting; the presentation was informational and staff said a formal budget will be brought to the board for approval in June.","District financial consultant presented the 2025–26 strategic budget implications of House Bill 2, including mandated teacher pay increases, changes to special education funding, a new support-staff allotment and a projected $3.3 million revenue increase partly restricted to compensation.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6639310,"Edcouch-Elsa ISD trustees approve budget amendment to reserve funds for school driveway project",480,172000,652000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3799025-c308dc4ff1e35fd588d5c54f7e884db3&start=172&end=652","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3799025-c308dc4ff1e35fd588d5c54f7e884db3/thumbnail_172000.jpg","/articles/6639310/Texas/Edcouch-Elsa-ISD-trustees-approve-budget-amendment-to-reserve-funds-for-school-driveway-project","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6639310-b7785850c522edb5c7da1be03538dcd5/orig.mp4?Expires=1770789876&Signature=DI7usjn93qXdF0E73oOx~BOl58aCKKaKh0~sQjKpey7uhSVFR44gaOiLCE5iEc~QeqqLLSJ1xY2LgM9MnVlh98ZOUSPToe4g-wmOQrtsXip-Xv7NoBr8b-TzodtJHhwo8EPscO3ACILazdDS~1-q~ir4KRfg2Ylpj0OmL~YAl-fmf81T34cZ53XFGau3vhSz0Zc8X5rmSOGaJtgeMiQv0HzzWsv5vABHsweiiT6FPzLdQ~JHhPm-tCL-5BTQj-1yqDXvysVVhp4evvvsvjmi~AoSU5RWXhBll6P97vKRMMQpNSgXv1rhCxTRE4XYXQ~akA2naOPTiS2nx8aF8ncOKQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Edcouch-Elsa Independent School District trustees on June 7 approved a budget amendment moving existing district funds into a maintenance account to reserve money for a previously approved driveway project at a middle school.

The amendment shifts funds from a code described in the board materials as Function 53 (data services and an insurance/bonding line without identified expenses) into Function 51 (maintenance). Board Chair said the change is intended to ensure the district has money available when bids arrive for the driveway project.

The amendment was described by trustee members and staff as a bookkeeping move to set aside money for a driveway/traffic improvement project that had been approved earlier by the board; the board will consider approval of the specific construction contract and bids later. Trustee Benio said she was uneasy approving the amendment given the district began the fiscal year “in the negatives” and questioned whether the project is a priority because it does not directly affect classroom instruction. Sylvia Garza, the district’s budget consultant, said the funds already exist in the insurance/bonding code and that an audit found no outstanding liabilities tied to that balance: “It just looks like that money was placed there perhaps in case something did occur,” she said.

Garza described the driveway work as expanding the campus pickup/drop-off area by adding two lanes on the northwest side of the campus to reduce traffic backing up onto the adjacent street. She said engineering work has already been done and that the amendment simply reallocates existing local funds so the district can act when bids are received. Board members asked for schematics and additional clarification, and Garza indicated the plans were included in the board packet and could be reviewed again at the next meeting.

The board moved to approve the amendment after discussion; the chair called for the vote and recorded “Aye.” The board approved other consent agenda items (4A and 4C) earlier; 4B (the budget amendment) was pulled for discussion and then approved in open session.

The board and staff emphasized that, according to Garza, if the board later decides not to proceed with the construction, the money would remain in fund balance or be reallocated as needed. No contract award or construction authorization was voted on at the June 7 meeting.

Votes at a glance: the motion to approve the budget amendment was made and approved in open session; no recorded roll-call vote with individual tallies was entered in the transcript.

The board asked staff to provide schematics and additional details at a future meeting before final authorization of construction contracts.","The Edcouch-Elsa Independent School District Board of Trustees approved a budget amendment to move existing district funds into maintenance to reserve money for an approved driveway project; trustees debated prioritization amid a projected deficit.","actionData","errors"]

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Edcouch-Elsa ISD board accepts administration recommendation to nonrenew two Chapter 21 contracts

Edcouch-Elsa ISD reviews 2025–26 budget projections as HB2 alters teacher and special education funding

Edcouch-Elsa ISD trustees approve budget amendment to reserve funds for school driveway project