EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Socorro Independent School District will cut staff to deal with its budget deficit, its interim superintendent said in a letter sent out to staff on Friday, Feb. 14.
How deep those cuts may go have not been determined yet.
KTSM verified through several different sources that the letter is valid and was sent out Friday afternoon as staff were leaving school.
“To deliver a balanced budget for the 2025-2026 school year and begin returning our district to financial solvency, we must reduce our budget by $38 million. Sadly, this can only be achieved through a reduction of our staff. We are currently working to identify exactly how many employees will be impacted. Once this has been determined, employees will be notified, and we will do everything we can to help them through this painful process,” interim Socorro ISD Superintendent James Vasquez wrote in the letter.
Vasquez said this was the “last thing” he ever wanted to see happen in the district.
“We have worked with our conservators, financial advisers, and other financial experts to identify ways to reduce our deficit. Regrettably, our choices were either make these drastic cuts or become insolvent as a district,” he wrote.
“This is without question the most difficult time in the district’s history. I wish I could find more consoling words, but all I can say is that I am truly sorry for the position we are in,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez wrote that during the past three years, the district’s enrollment has shrunk by about 1,200 students, which is the equivalent of close to $10 million in state funding.
“While increased competition from neighboring school districts accounts for some of the decline, the fact is that with plummeting birthrates, there are less school-aged children in the county than there were just a few years ago. On top of that, chronic absenteeism since the pandemic has affected schools nationwide. Our average daily attendance has decreased by more than 2%, further reducing our funding another $6 million,” Vasquez wrote.
Vasquez said the situation has been compounded by “the state’s inaction to adequately fund public schools.”
That has created hardships for districts across the state, Vasquez said.
“School districts throughout Texas are being forced to reduce staff, close schools, and operate on deficit budgets just to stay afloat,” he wrote.
Vasquez said that during the past 10 months, the district has identified about $25 million in savings, “primarily through closing vacant positions and cutting operating budget.”
“We have reduced our workforce by 8 percent, including 10 percent of district-level staff through attrition,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this has not been enough. In fact, we had to take out a loan this past November to temporarily bolster our cash position and make payroll during the holiday season. We are anticipating that we will have to pursue another short-term loan later this year,” Vasquez said.
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