Edinburg CISD Reviews Budget Pressures, Enrollment Decline and Program Spending
Edinburg CISD, school board, budget workshop, enrollment, special populations
Arnoldo Mata
EDINBURG, Texas — Edinburg CISD trustees reviewed budget pressures, declining enrollment, state funding changes and special population spending during an April 28 board workshop and regular meeting.
The district opened its first budget workshop for the 2026-27 school year, with officials noting that the fiscal year ends Aug. 31 and the board has until then to propose and adopt a budget.
Staff said Texas House Bill 2, signed into law in summer 2025, funds the biennium beginning Sept. 1, 2025, through the end of the next fiscal year. District officials said there are no new allotment changes for the upcoming fiscal year. Revenue collections are primarily driven by average daily attendance and property values, officials said.
Board members also emphasized that the district is not raising taxes.
“Edinburg ISD does not go up in taxes,” board President Xavier Salinas said. “Our taxes, as a matter of fact, go down, but the appraisal district values of our houses go up.”
Salinas said Edinburg CISD has “the lowest tax rate in Hidalgo County for school districts.”
Enrollment and Attendance
District officials said enrollment has declined over the past three years. Enrollment decreased by 467 students from 2023-24 to 2024-25 and by 1,360 students from last year to this year. Staff reported that the district is also seeing a decrease in average daily attendance, which affects funding.
“We are initially battling enrollment and ADA increases for various reasons,” a staff member said. As of April 24, district enrollment totaled 32,221 students, a decrease of 1,047 compared with the same point last year.
Elementary enrollment totaled 16,212 students, down 582. Middle school enrollment totaled 6,482 students, down 142. High school enrollment totaled 9,527 students, down 323.
District officials said attendance has increased from 92% to 93%, but enrollment remains a concern.
“We need to push our parents to send their kids to school every single day,” Salinas said.
Staffing and Fund Balance
Superintendent Dr. Mario Salinas said the district is evaluating staffing through attrition.
“We are not letting go of anybody,” Salinas said. “No one getting let go from Edinburg ISD. We’re not closing schools. We are evaluating every position through attrition.”
Officials said the district has identified 104 positions through attrition.
The district’s audited fund balance for 2025 was listed at $74.4 million. Officials said the district ended fiscal year 2025 with 65 days of fund balance and is projected to end 2026 with about 58 days.
The Texas Education Agency recommends 75 days, which district officials said would equal about $85.9 million.
“We have to make efforts to increase it,” a district official said.
Teacher Pay and Restricted Funding
District officials said some new state funding is restricted to teacher compensation.
The district received $10 million through the teacher retention allotment, restricted to teacher salary increases.
Salinas said the teacher incentive allotment is separate from the raise approved by the board.
“Some of our teachers are making over $100,000 a year,” Salinas said.
District officials said the state has acknowledged the need for teacher raises, but other employees must be considered within available funding.
“We also as a district are totally committed to be as fair as we can, as what the money would allow us to do to take care of everybody else,” a district official said.
Cost Containment
District officials said payroll accounts for up to 80% of the budget.
Cost containment efforts include reviewing staffing ratios, each vacancy, stipends, software applications, summer school costs and venue rentals.
Officials also discussed energy costs, health insurance, facility needs and strategic purchasing.
“We are in the needs versus wants mode,” a district official said. “We’re in the cut mode if we need to move forward.”
Trustees also discussed using district parking lots near Richard R. Flores Stadium as a possible revenue source during events.
“It’s our property,” a trustee said. “Somebody wants to use it, they’re going to pay us.”
Special Populations
District officials reviewed spending and projected fund balances for compensatory education, career and technical education and bilingual programs.
Compensatory education was projected with a fund balance of $3.3 million from the prior year. Officials said the current budget was adjusted from $43 million to $40 million.
The CTE program ended 2024-25 with a loss of $674,034 but saw an increase in its allotment this year. Officials said CTE pays for 147 employees.
The bilingual program ended with a positive fund balance of $1.6 million. Officials said emergent bilingual counts decreased from 9,900 to 8,800.
Public Comment
During public comment, a parent raised concerns about the possible removal of a shadow aide for her child. “The problem is not the goal of independence,” Carolina Perez said. “The problem is removing the needed shadow support too soon.”
Another parent asked the board to prioritize proper flooring for dance students, saying about 140 students use the dance studio daily. “This is not about comfort, but safety,” Tanya Olivarez said.
A third speaker raised concerns about a grievance involving allegations that melatonin spray was used on students’ pillows during cheerleading competitions without parental knowledge or consent. “Parents deserve transparency, period,” Leticia Palacios said.
Board Action
During the regular meeting, trustees approved multiple instructional and operational items, including summer hires for summer school, online learning resources, reading and writing programs, secondary mathematics instructional materials, computers for existing labs and charter bus service.
The board also approved roofing-related items for Canterbury Elementary and Zavala Elementary, along with a Memorial Middle School shoe replacement project.