EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Socorro Independent School District Board of Trustees voted Thursday, June 6, to have no pay increases for employees across the district, and to reduce district contributions to employee health plans by $20/ month, for the upcoming school year 2024-2025.
The decision was made at a special board meeting as the district begins to take action ahead of the June 19 deadline to finalize their budget for the upcoming school year.
The board weighed three different options, including some that involved teachers getting a step increase, but they ultimately opted to go with recommendations from district officials.
The decision came as the district is taking steps to address its financial challenges. At a board meeting earlier this year, district officials had projected a $41 million deficit for the upcoming school year on top of the $33 million dollar shortfall they endured over the past year.
KTSM spoke with representatives from the Socorro American Federation of Teachers and the West Texas Alliance, two different unions representing teachers in the district, who said teachers are overwhelmingly disappointed after Thursday’s decision, and many are beginning to seek employment elsewhere or even career changes.
“They’re taking pretty much a pay cut because really, no raise and increasing their health insurance, they’re going to take less money home,” said Socorro AFT President Veronica Hernandez. “It’s just increasing the desperation for them. To make a career out of teaching is getting harder and harder.”
“People were already concerned coming into the meeting, and so with what was decided yesterday and with the lack of transparency, it was just more disheartening and disappointing for them,” said West Texas Alliance President Rosie Perez.
Perez said district officials couldn’t clarify how this will all affect teacher’s take-home pay.
Although Thursday’s decision was discussed as a possible action at previous board meetings, teachers were hopeful the board would opt for having a step increase or even a one-time stipend to offset the decisions being made surrounding employee health plans.
“If teachers aren’t being respected and treated correctly, including with salary, then the students aren’t going to do that well either. It all comes hand in hand,” Hernandez said. “We need our teachers more than some of the bigger higher-ups. Maybe that’s a consideration.”
Considering the decision made on Thursday by the board, Perez offered an idea of how the district could demonstrate that they support their teachers and other employees.
“There’s other ways that they can compensate their teachers, not necessarily through compensation this year, but there’s other ways that they can help support our teachers because time is valuable to them. If they can give them more time to be able to spend on themselves and with their families, I think that would be a great thing that the district could do,” Perez said.
The SISD conservators appointed by the TEA to advise the district spoke ahead of the meeting on Thursday, saying they’re proud of the collaborative effort they’ve had with the district’s board and staff.
“Things are not necessarily broken. They just need to be coordinated in a better way. There are opportunities for us to do that and we will do so. But in many ways there are some great things that are happening here. It’s just a matter of: ‘How can we refresh some of those ideas and thoughts?’” conservator Andrew Kim said.
Because over 80% of the district’s budget goes to employee benefits and pay, leading conservator Michael Hinojosa said they have to start by taking action there to mitigate the district’s shortfalls.
“We have to fix these other issues because if we don’t make smart decisions starting now, we’re going to have to make some real big, tough decisions in the near future,” Hinojosa said. “We can cut all the rubber bands and all the paper clips and all the catering, but it’s only going to help a little.”
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