6VIEW ALL PHOTOS
Canutillo ISD Board Room. (Credit: KFOX14/CBS4)
CANUTILLO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — The Canutillo Independent School District (CISD) is grappling with a significant budget shortfall, prompting officials to consider difficult cuts to avoid a potential $6.4 million deficit.
During a recent meeting, district officials received a formal presentation from the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), outlining potential areas for budget reductions.
Gustavo Reveles, spokesperson for Canutillo ISD, said, "We've had to live in a leaner manner. We've had to go without," acknowledging the ongoing financial challenges.
He added, "It is a multimillion dollar deficit. We are going to have to make some very difficult decisions because of that."
CISD currently has a $5.8 million budget deficit, but must now make cuts to avoid the growth of that deficit to $6.4 million.
The presentation suggested cuts across various departments.
The TASB analyzed several areas for possible reduction and gave the following recommendations:
These recommended cuts would save the district approximately $470,000.
Karen Dooley from the Texas Association of School Boards highlighted that 85% of the district's budget is allocated to payroll, with 53% going to teachers.
"Everything's on the table right now," said Reveles. "It doesn't mean that this is gonna happen. It just means that they need to understand where our funds go, what they do and what the impact is to our children."
Board Vice President Lily Maldonado expressed her opposition during the district's discussion of the its current budget situation.
Maldonado stated that one of the recommendations given to her by the district to cut fine arts programs was something she strongly opposed.
"I'm not in favor of eliminating the music at elementary. You have to understand that these kids, sometimes this is a motivator." She emphasized, "It can't be fine art. It can't be art."
Superintendent Dr. Pedro Galaviz acknowledged the potential impact on students, saying, "If you're facing a $5.89 budget, you're gonna impact kids. Come to the end of the year, you're just gonna impact kids."
The board is expected to make a decision on the proposed cuts by the end of March or the beginning of April.
Canutillo ISD's superintendent, Dr. Pedro Galaviz, addressed the district's budget deficit in February by releasing the statement below:
Dear Canutillo Community,
Canutillo ISD is facing a serious financial challenge that demands careful planning, tough decisions and an unwavering commitment to our students. Like many other school districts in Texas and the El Paso region, we are navigating a projected multi-million-dollar budget deficit for the current fiscal year. This deficit is the consequence of a state funding system that has failed to keep up with the needs of public education.
This problem is not unique to Canutillo. Locally, school districts like Socorro and Ysleta ISDs have announced that their budget situations are dire and their outlook has or may require them to take on loans. Socorro this week said it will likely lay off hundreds of employees in order to meet a budget deficit that threatens to make the district unsolvable. Our neighbors at El Paso ISD have said they may not be in the same harmful budget situation because of the difficult decision they made to close low-enrollment schools. School districts of all sizes, demographics and geographic areas throughout Texas are feeling the same pain we are here in El Paso County. This is a statewide issue.
Texas’ school finance model has long been a source of concern for district leaders. Instead of prioritizing student success, state funding decisions continue to be influenced by special interest groups and political agendas. While costs continue to rise due to inflation, unfunded mandates and increasing demands on public schools, the level of per-student funding has remained stagnant for half a decade. And now, Gov. Abbott seems poised to further fleece funding for public education by gifting families of economic privilege with public funds through the creation of vouchers so they can pay for their children’s private education. This reality places districts like Canutillo ISD in an unsustainable position, forcing us to make difficult budgetary adjustments to maintain fiscal responsibility while preserving the quality of education our community expects.
Canutillo residents have invested in their schools for decades and the District has responded by providing high-quality teaching and learning to their children. Unfortunately, the model that we have used to achieve this goal seems less and less sustainable now due to the expanding costs and diminishing funding opportunities. Unless we respond to our challenges today, we could create long-lasting damages to our ability to remain financially strong and avoid what could be a path toward bankruptcy.
To that end, and in order to achieve a balanced budget, CISD is evaluating every possible cost-saving measure. This comprehensive review includes optimizing operational expenses, assessing program efficiencies and carefully analyzing staffing needs. While we have already realized some savings through employee attrition and staff reduction, further cuts are necessary to address the remaining shortfall.
Difficult decisions are ahead. We are considering all options because failing to do so could compromise the district’s financial stability. This means additional budget cuts and potential personnel adjustments may be required. We do not take these considerations lightly. Every decision is made with the best interests of our financial stability in mind, and therefore the continuation of our ability to provide a high-quality education to our children.
We are in the fortunate position of having received the support of voters to pass a Bond election in May. The relocation and modernization of schools will undoubtedly lead to a stabilization of our enrollment and an increase in revenue. However, the construction of these new schools is still 3 to 4 years away. Our budget emergency is one we must deal with today.
Canutillo ISD isn't the only school district within El Paso county facing difficult financial situations.
Socorro Independent School District
In February, the Socorro ISD school board voted to lay off 300 district employees which will include teachers and staff.
The decision will also effect several programs including elementary school fine arts programs.
El Paso Independent School District
In November of last year, El Paso ISD's school board voted to shut down eight elementary schools to combat it's own budget shortfall.
Ysleta Independent School District
In February, Ysleta ISD's superintendent, Dr. Xavier De La Torre, spoke with KFOX14/CBS4 to discuss a potential $25 million loan to combat its own budget shortfall as well.
Sign up to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.