As it falls deeper into a financial crisis, the Ysleta Independent School District is looking to deplete its savings next fiscal year while relying primarily on employee buyouts and attrition – rather than layoffs or a declaration of financial exigency – to begin digging itself out of a widening hole.
Ysleta ISD is looking at a projected $15 million deficit in its proposed $379 million general fund budget for the next fiscal year, leaving just over $1 million in its savings, known as fund balance. It doesn’t include any salary increases or bonuses for employees.
“This is a very risky gamble, to draw down your fund balance to almost nothing,” said Manny Soto, a longtime school administrator who is now director of data for the Council for Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development, an El Paso nonprofit that works to improve public education. “It’s just not good finances, and if you miss anything – anything at all – you may have to have the state bail you out.”…