Brownsville ISD consolidates schools in Southmost

The Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to consolidate three pairs of schools in Southmost, aiming to initially save about $1 million per consolidation and setting a timeline to complete the change-over by fall 2024.

The vote was 5-2, with trustees Carlos Elizondo and Frank Ortiz opposing the move and board President Jessica G. Gonzalez and Trustees Denise Garza, Daniella Lopez Valdez, Eddie Garcia and Tim Ramirez voting in favor.

The vote followed a series of meetings starting in February with parents at the affected elementary schools: Cromack and Casteneda, Garza and Southmost, and Del Castillo and Morningside. The Cromack-Casteneda consolidation was first proposed in spring 2023 but was tabled.

Ramirez, a retired teacher who taught at Central and Cummings middle schools when they were consolidated in the 1990s, said he attended all of this year’s meetings and that a majority of parents had spoken in a positive way about consolidation. He estimated the number at 95%.

“I was at Central Middle School when they closed it down and I chose to go to Cummings Middle School, and the kids that went to Cummings flourished,” Ramirez said. “It wasn’t the end. It wasn’t the sky is falling. We’re saying the sky is falling but it hasn’t happened,” Ramirez said.

“My experience has been when there’s been change, the kids do better. They flourish,” he said. “We have teachers here who moved from one school to another and it wasn’t the end of the world. It was a new beginning.”

The consolidations are part of a cost-saving effort prompted by a standoff at the Legislature over public school funding. Gov. Greg Abbott and his allies are insisting on approval of a school voucher plan as a condition for releasing $31 billion in public school funding.

In the meantime, BISD and public school districts across Texas have yet to see the funds they normally get to educate the state’s millions of public school students including in Brownsville.

At the same time, the state comptroller’s office has said Cameron County underestimated local property values.

As a result, BISD is facing a budget deficit of at least $20 million for the 2024-2025 school year, Superintendent Jesus H. Chavez has said.

Tuesday night, Chavez said that estimate is probably low and that BISD likely will have to use more than the $8 million in fund balance originally estimated to help cover the shortfall.

Chavez distributed a fact sheet that he said he had assembled just prior to the meeting, saying the situation could turn out to be more dire than originally feared.

“As we are working on and projecting our budget for next year, I have made it very clear that we’re looking at a $20 million deficit, and that’s probably the better-case scenario,” he said. “I’m hoping that it’s not more than that.”

Chavez said that at the beginning of the budget process three months ago, he went to the board in a budget workshop with a plan for how to address the situation.

“Yes there is that $116 million that we’ve been talking about, but that can be bitten off very quickly in big chunks,” he cautioned, referring to the district’s fund balance.

Chavez also said the state had taken away $14 million this year in the form of lower property valuations. Additionally BISD is losing $8 million in federal ESSER funds starting next year.

Brownsville ISD Superintendent Jesus H. Chavez, right, and Jessica G. Gonzalez, left, president of the BISD school board, interact with a group of parents Monday night, April 8, 2024, at Morningside Elementary School after a meeting about school consolidation. (Gary Long | The Brownsville Herald)

The trustees voted on the consolidations one pair of schools at a time. In each case the vote was 5-2, although at one point Elizondo made a motion not to consolidate two schools and Ortiz seconded.

The vote was 2-5 with only Elizondo and Ortiz voting in favor.

Chavez explained the rationale for consolidation, saying the consolidations would save a little more than $1 million per consolidation on the 2024-2025 budget as well as other ongoing costs down the road.

“I have indicated that I anticipate and we are planning for a better academic outcome at the three receiving schools,” Chavez said, adding that the students would be moving to a better, newer school and that the money saved would be then be re-invested back into the schools in the form of enhanced academic programs.

“There’s also a cost avoidance. … If a school is left open, then you are spending that million … in continuing to have that school open,” he said.

The cost then becomes more like $30 million over 10 years, not to mention maintenance costs to keep the schools open and needed facilities upgrades.

“When we think about the cost avoidance and the savings of $3 million, those are jobs that have been saved, those are programs that have been saved, that don’t have to be cut. You know, board, we’re going to bring you a list. We’re still working on the number of items,” he said cost-saving measures being looked at.

Chavez went on to say BISD stands behind its commitment that “everyone will have a job to go back to,” but that the district has $83 million of roofs that need attention and $30 million worth of device-replacement needs in the technology area. A bond issue will be necessary at some point, Chavez said.

He also said consolidation is hard on families and communities.

“In my mind consolidation is something that is do-able. In my mind it is something that is necessary for this district and all students are going to benefit from that,” Chavez said.

Elizondo then said that closing schools amounted to “pulling the hearts out of communities,” and contended Chavez and his administration had not done due diligence on the consolidation plan.

“I’ll never be a part of closing schools,” he said.

After Ramirez said students were resilient and would adapt to their new schools, Lopez Valdez said that if Elizondo had a solution it was time to tell the board what it was and not simply allege that people had not done due diligence.

“If you do have a solution, it’s time. We’ve had a lot of budget meetings by now,” she said, adding, “we’re here for the 40,000 students and the 6,000 employees and to make sure they don’t get left behind.”

Garcia, speaking in support of the consolidations, said it was time that students in Southmost got a fair shake. He suggested tearing down one or more of the schools being consolidated and starting over because parents are pulling their kids out of aging BISD schools to attend brand, spanking new charter schools.

He and others said many of the problems the current board is having to deal with can be traced back to previous boards 15 or more years ago not wanting to raise taxes and leaving facilities maintenance for later.

BISD will now follow a timeline that calls for giving students and parents tours of their new schools, adjusting boundaries and moving students, their records and their teachers to the receiving schools.

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