Union presses BISD for pay raises amid inflation

Gary Long, The Brownsville Herald, Texas
·2 min read

Jun. 7—Union representatives on Monday continued to push the Brownsville Independent School District to improve pay for teachers, librarians and other professionals as well as classified employees across the district.

At the conclusion of an afternoon budget committee meeting Lazaro Cardenas, representing the group BEST AFT, again called for starting pay of $15 per hour for classified employees and a $4,000 across-the-board raise for teachers and other certified employees.

During the meeting's public comment period, Cardenas said anything less than the $4,000 figure would result in the erosion of teachers' buying power due to higher property taxes, rising utility bills and inflation running at more than 8% compared to 4.5% a year ago.

The meeting was the fifth several budget committee workshops as BISD works toward a June 30 deadline to approve next year's budget.

Chief Financial Officer David Robledo presented pay-raise models comparing the costs of providing raises from $2,030 to $5,000. Committee members have generally expressed support for $4,000 as a figure that can be accomplished.

That would result in additional payroll costs of $18.7 million, benefits at 15% would total $2.8 million and the grand total $21.55 million.

Funding such an increase becomes an increasingly daunting task as enrollment and average daily attendance have decreased in recent years. Robledo said the district has lost the equivalent of a high school over each of the last two budget years.

Superintendent Rene Gutierrez said approving the budget ultimately will prove to be a balancing act among competing interests.

He said the district is in a good financial position now, with a fund balance of $105.78 million, enough to cover about 90 days of operation. Fund balance will cover part of the cost of raises.

Gutierrez said he and the BISD Board of Trustees will be careful to steer BISD down a prudent financial path, one that "doesn't send the district into a financial crisis two to three years from now."