Edinburg CISD Board Approves New Super $335K Contract on 4-3 vote, Adopts Lower Tax Rate
Edinburg, Edinburg CISD, Board of Trustees, Tax Rate, Budget, Dominguez, Superintendent Contract
Staff Report
Edinburg TX – The Edinburg CISD Board of Trustees held a public hearing and regular meeting Aug. 25, adopting a lower tax rate for the 2026-2027 school year, receiving public criticism over the district’s budget deficit, and voting to hire a new superintendent with a divided board.
New Superintendent Contract
Following closed session, the board voted 4-3 to approve a three-year contract for incoming superintendent Dr. Angela Dominguez, with a base salary of $335,000.
Trustee Dominga Vela voted against the contract, citing the district’s financial position. “When the district is asking campuses and departments to tighten their budgets, reduce expenditures, and do more with less, it is reasonable for our community to ask whether a significant superintendent salary is necessary,” Vela said. “For me, this is not about one individual, nor is it personal. It is about priorities.”
Trustee Letty Garcia also voted no, saying, “We can’t give a raise to our hardworking teachers and all staff members… but yet we’re here saying, ‘Oh, we’re okay with the $335,000 a year.'”
Trustee David Tores also voted against the contract saying, “Deciding yes on this tonight would continue to put us even further deep in a budget crisis.”
Trustees voting in favor of the contract cited Dominguez’s qualifications and the need for leadership during the district’s financial difficulties. “I believe that this superintendent that’s coming up … can do the job, and I want to give her the chance,” one trustee said. Another trustee added, “We need somebody who has a history that’s going to go and get it done.”
Salinas, who made the motion to approve the contract, said the salary is below market for a district of Edinburg CISD’s size. “I know that $335,000 seems a lot, but in a district this size, it is below market,” Salinas said. “It could have been a lot more.”
Public Hearing on Budget and Tax Rate
Adele Felix, the district’s interim superintendent and chief of finance and operations, presented the proposed budget and tax rate for fiscal year 2026-2027. Felix said the proposed total tax rate is $0.8556, consisting of a maintenance and operations rate of $0.7706, down from $0.7759 the prior year, and an interest and sinking rate of $0.085, down from $0.0858. Felix said the rate is fully compressed to the maximum allowed under House Bill 3, and that the district does not have “disaster pennies” available to add to the rate. “It would have been nice to have two or three pennies,” Board President Jaime Salinas said. “That would be amazing,” Felix responded.
Felix said the district’s tax rate remains the lowest in Hidalgo County, noting that Brownsville ISD’s lower rate benefits from a larger tax base tied to the LNG and SpaceX projects, and that Brownsville does not carry an interest and sinking rate. “They’re closing a lot of schools,” Salinas said of Brownsville ISD.
Felix said enrollment continues to trend downward, though the district gained about 1,000 students on the second day of school. “That is great news for us,” Felix said. Felix said the district is budgeting conservatively for an anticipated loss of 800 average daily attendance students for the coming year.
Public Comments on Budget
During the public hearing, Marsha Gonzalez, president of the Edinburg American Federation of Teachers, asked district officials to clarify how many students at the district’s Collegiate High School, which has about 488 students, transferred from the district’s four traditional high schools, and questioned whether only teachers would receive a compensation increase in the coming year. Gonzalez presented a list of cost-saving suggestions from union members, including reducing faculty meetings, eliminating After School Program funding, limiting the use of paid consultants, and reducing the frequency of benchmark testing. “Teachers want to teach, not potty-train three-year-olds,” Gonzalez said, referring to a proposal to return early childhood programming to Head Start.
Fern McClarty criticized the district’s projected budget deficit and questioned continued payments to the former superintendent following his retirement. “What can people say when they find out the school board budget is $15 million or so short? My reaction is to fire them all,” McClarty said. McClarty also raised questions about the district’s Collegiate High School lease and prior bond-funded compensation commitments.
Antonio Mercado, president of the Edinburg Association of Texas Professional Educators, offered several cost-saving suggestions, including installing motion-sensor lighting, improving air conditioning maintenance, and reconsidering the district’s lease arrangement for the Collegiate High School. “It is a money pit,” Mercado said. “We paid for half of it. We’re leasing it, and then we’re not going to own it after 30 years.”
Adoption of Tax Rate and Budget
At the subsequent regular meeting, the board approved the proposed 2026-2027 budget for the general and debt service funds, and adopted a resolution setting the district’s maintenance and operations and interest and sinking tax rates for 2026-2027, both by unanimous vote.
Salinas emphasized that the adopted rate represents a decrease. “When you see your tax bill, understand ECISD went down in your taxes,” Salinas said. “When you see your tax increases, understand that’s the appraisal district that increased your value of your house… We didn’t [raise taxes]. We lowered taxes. The appraisal district increased your values.”
CTE Career Center Update
Joey Arizmendi, director of facilities, and David Iglesias, an architect with PBK Architects, presented an update on construction of the district’s CTE Career Center at the former Barrientes site. Iglesias said the project is about 95% complete, with a revised substantial completion date of Sept. 11, following a 24-day extension attributed partly to weather and partly to additional work orders. “We feel these days are justified,” Iglesias said.
Richard Valdez, CTE director, said the district has implemented temporary lab arrangements for six CTE programs — phlebotomy, EKG, pharmacy technician, culinary arts, cosmetology and barbering — while construction is completed, serving approximately 310 of 400 available student slots so far this year.
1977 State Championship Cross Country Team Recognized
The board recognized members of the 1977 Edinburg High School boys cross country team, which won the UIL Class 5A state championship, the only Rio Grande Valley team to do so in the large-school division. Team members were inducted into the Rio Grande Valley Sports Hall of Fame’s Team of Honor in June 2025. Former head coach Homer Martinez, who led the team, said the achievement set the tone for the program going forward. “Edinburgh is a running community,” Martinez said. “They set the tone for the program… hopefully there will be some more coming up.”
Regular Meeting Public Comments
During public comments at the regular meeting, Marsha Gonzalez again addressed the board, this time regarding conduct related to the ongoing school board election. Gonzalez said she was speaking in her capacity as union president rather than as a candidate, and criticized behavior she attributed to a board candidate and incumbent trustees. “As board members, you are the fiduciary stewards of ECISD,” Gonzalez said. “You represent the ECISD community and should bring solutions and not your own personal agendas or drama.”
Insurance and Purchasing Items
The board approved a request for proposals for self-funded health plan administration, moving to United Healthcare from the district’s current provider. Dustin Garza, the district’s benefits consultant, said the change would reduce the per-employee, per-month administrative fee from $40.09 to $30, and reduce pharmacy benefit management fees from a higher rate to $6.50 per employee per month. Garza said the district also plans to implement an international prescription drug option, estimating $1.7 million to $2 million in savings based on 2025 claims data. “I know you’ve talked about it several years, so I’m glad you pulled the trigger,” Salinas told Garza.
The board also approved a property and casualty insurance renewal, which Garza said would result in approximately $1.4 million in premium savings compared to the prior year. Salinas noted he would have preferred a request-for-qualifications process rather than a request for proposals, saying it might have generated additional competition, though Garza said RFQs are generally used for professional qualifications rather than pricing.
The board approved numerous other routine purchasing and contract renewal items, including software subscriptions, food service contracts, and district insurance and testing platforms, with several trustees requesting that staff seek renewal discounts on recurring contracts going forward.
The board also approved, without opposition, hiring recommendations for a curriculum assistant, a cross country head coach at Robert Vela High School, and a dietitian for the child nutrition department, along with a broader list of employment resignations, retirements, non-renewals and terminations.