UISD board members push back on school consolidation proposal

Members of the United Independent School District Board of Trustees acknowledged harsh budget realities while vowing to explore alternatives during this week's heated workshop meeting as administrators presented a proposal to potentially consolidate five elementary schools and one middle school.

"There is not one single board member here that wants to close any schools. You've got to start with that," District 5 Board Member and President Javier Montemayor said. "We have to look at the numbers and the worst-case scenarios. We have to look not only for this year but two years down the road. All these schools are being fought for hard, and no plan has been approved."

A week before the meeting, it was announced that the elementary schools being considered for closure were Amparo Gutierrez, Finley, Henry Cuellar, John F. Kennedy-Emiliano Zapata and Matias De Llano.

One board member went beyond saying he did not want to close schools by stating his district's campus simply would not close.

"As a board member representing Kennedy, I can tell you right now we are not going to close Kennedy," District 1 Board Member Gilbert Aguilar Jr. said. "We are going to find solutions, and I know this board is going to support that. I want you to know that. We're going to figure out something. Other schools, it is up to every board member to find their solution, because each of us knows what is the impact on that district."

UISD Chief Financial Officer Laida Benavides presented the proposal in which elementary students would be rerouted to the following campuses:

- Amparo Gutierrez students to Clark, Newman and Nye.

- Henry Cuellar students to Killam and Zaffirini.

- Finley students to Fasken, Kazen and Muller.

- John F. Kennedy-Emiliano Zapata students to Juarez-Lincoln.

- Matias De Llano students to Borchers, CSBS, Malakoff and Trautmann.

"We do realize there are people behind these numbers. That has always been the case at United ISD," Benavides said. "The last thing we need is for the Texas Education Agency to come to United and take it over for whatever reason. I'm not trying to be threatening. I'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen, because it shouldn't happen to an A-rated district like ours.

"We don't need TEA to come and tell us how to handle our business. We've been handling our business very well. You see those six A's? That's been a result of that."

The presentation cited declining enrollment numbers, which Benavides said were directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Enrollment was 43,343 in the 2018-19 school year. It declined slightly to 43,033 in 2019-20, then fell to 41,914 in 2020-21 and 39,316 in 2021-22.

"We started losing enrollment," she said. "Maybe some families moved with other family members out of town. Maybe some went back to Mexico to be with family. It was a scary time. It was a dark time in our history."

Enrollment rebounded to 41,373 in 2022-23 but has fallen every year since to 41,331 in 2023-24, 40,738 in 2024-25 and 39,838 in 2025-26. Benavides said that decrease of 3,505 students - which includes more than 2,000 elementary students - resulted in $32 million less in state revenue.

UISD Superintendent Gerardo Cruz said a demographer will present a more definitive enrollment projection at the upcoming school board meeting on Feb. 18. He said the district is expecting another enrollment decline of about 880 students. He said the district receives an average of about $8,100 per student, so that decrease would represent an annual loss of about $7.1 million.

District 4 Board Member and Parliamentarian Ramiro Veliz III said attendance should be emphasized to help minimize the damage.

"That's the thing that is in our hands and is in the parents' hands with this," he said. "The students attending schools drive how much money we get back from the state."

In 2025-26, UISD is estimated to receive $453 million in state funding while having expenses of about $467 million. There is a combined shortfall of $69 million over the past three years, as 2024-25 had funding of $487 million and expenses of $533 million and 2023-24 had $474 million in funding and $483 million in expenses.

The presentation estimated the closure of the schools would save a combined $66,351,932 over five years. That includes $12,250,438 for Amparo Gutierrez, $11,569,177 for Finley, $15,485,089 for Henry Cuellar, $14,324,235 for John F. Kennedy-Emiliano Zapata and $12,722,993 for Matias De Llano.

"We need to have a long-range plan regarding our financial situation to continue to protect the instructional programs and all the great things that have been happening here at United ISD," Cruz said. "This is a trend that is happening statewide. When we have a decrease in enrollment, we're going to have less state funding.

"It is my responsibility as the superintendent to ensure that we protect the future of UISD students as well as the finances at United ISD."

During the financial portion of the presentation, District 3 Board Member and Vice President Aliza Flores Oliveros addressed parents and specified that board members do not manage funds and are unpaid.

"We are governance. We are here to govern and make policy. That plan that is being presented was not devised by any of us board members," she said. "The seven of us did not come up with this plan. We are only here to say yes or no."

Montemayor suggested the budgetary shortfall is due in part to rising costs such as health insurance.

"We have the same amount of money coming in and our costs have gone up tremendously," he said. "We are absorbing as a district a lot of the increases that a lot of other entities would have passed on to their employees, and we continue to absorb that."

Benavides said the schools being considered for consolidation are based on facility condition, facility utilization and financial impact.

Some of the reasons presented as advantages of consolidation include:

- More efficient utilization of space.

- Equity across the district.

- Natural combinations of attendance boundaries.

- Reduced long-term operational and maintenance expenses.

- Elimination of duplicate services like utilities, staffing and security.

- Better return on facilities investment.

Part of the proposed plan would involve some students learning in portable units. District 7 Board Member Dianelle "Dianely" Martinez said that was unacceptable, citing her experience learning in portables when she was in elementary school. She also cited the increased costs for using them as well.

Martinez and other board members also criticized the UISD leaders for having just one one proposal for them to look at which featured basic estimates instead of specific details on how money could be saved. She also wondered if the district could close various administrative offices and have those employees work from school campuses.

"We cannot be going off generalized presentations. The entire presentation per campus is flawed. Why? Because you are going based off of portables," Martinez said. "We don't want our kids in portables. I went to Kazen Elementary, and I was in a portable in fourth and fifth grade. I can tell you we are in 2026, and no kids should be in portables.

"I'm going to request Dr. Cruz that you really talk to your administration."

The presentation focused primarily on consolidation, but it also briefly suggested other potential ideas for reducing expenses. They included:

- Reduction of contract days.

- Review of stipends, extra days and substitute pay.

- Modification of transportation routes for efficiency.

- Hiring freeze/reduction of positions.

- Review current contracts.

- Limit employee travel.

- Freeze on capital outlay expenditures.

- Reduction in overtime.

- Consolidate underutilized programs and services.

- Energy consumption reviews.

- Modification of summer school program.

"If we take drastic measures into our budget and everything that encompasses our budget by department, staff, facilities that are not just campuses, that right there is your millions of dollars of savings," Molina said. "We have two years to turn this around. Everything you see up there, we need to take action now. If we do not take action, then all these items within our budget, all these departments and every budgeted item, we won't get into Year 3 without TEA taking over our district."

However, the timeline for considering alternatives is limited. Benavides said the district is planning to have final adoption of the plan by the Board on March 25.

"Consolidation is not the only plan. There are other options we can consider," Cruz said. "We are currently looking at reviewing stipends for all employees. We are currently reviewing extra days that our employees receive and other methods we can use to reduce costs and increase revenue coming in at United ISD."

If the proposal is adopted, UISD would open the employee transfer window from March through June while reviewing and modifying transportation services and developing and sharing a relocation plan. In April, the campus closures would be reported to the Texas Education Agency, and from June through August the district would prepare the necessary campuses for additional students.

"We cannot make a cut not knowing what we are going to do later," Aguilar said. "Everything has to be presented to us so it can be a fair decision. That decision has to be made so it has less impact on parents and students."

District 6 Board Member and Secretary Michelle Molina said she opposes the proposal but stressed the importance of finding alternatives quickly.

"Do I agree with it? I do not. I'm completely opposing it," she said. "I've made my stand very clearly from the very beginning, Dr. Cruz, and you know that. Moving forward, if we do not take drastic measures, TEA will take over. We have two years to turn this around according to our fund balance."

Oliveros agreed about the need for swift action, but she also criticized the rushed nature of the discussion, saying it should have begun long ago.

"We should have started talking about that two years ago, and we should have been working on it. As a board member, I'm just as shocked as a lot of the parents who came up here," Oliveros said. "Everybody wants to vote no. Nobody wants this. You talk to the teachers who are trying to fight for their school. Next, they will be here trying to fight for their job. And in three years, you'll be trying to fight to save UISD, and we won't be able to do it."

Molina said one overlooked aspect of the proposed consolidation is special needs students. Based on her experience with a child with autism, she said she knows the stress and regression such a move could cause.

"There is a big concern for children with special needs. Moving them does take a toll. They will regress," she said. "I'm a mother of a special needs child with autism. I experienced it. I'm glad our schools in Mines Road are fully capable of taking on the students, and I truly appreciate how much we've increased the opportunities for our special needs students."

For her district, Molina stressed the impact of a growing housing market. She said there are five new neighborhoods being built around the Finley, Fasken and Kazen campuses, and Muller also has new development in the area. Finley is also the only school of the proposed campuses for consolidation that has seen its attendance increase since the 2018-19 school year.

"Finley should have never been an option," she said. "I would like to see a timeline with a dollar amount of what we need to save by when.

"Dr. Cruz, to be very fair, I understand you are in a very difficult position. You have the weight of your district and your staff, and the realistic deep-diving cuts we have to do in our budget and salaries. As Dr. Cruz goes into his second year here with the district, he has also taken, from Day 1, cost-saving measures to help our budget. That is a fact. There is a lot more to do. It's not over and it's not done."

Cruz said the district must take action quickly because it will be bankrupt within three years if nothing is done. He cited recent closures by Corpus Christi Independent School District and said similar actions could be considered by UISD.

"School closures are nothing new. It has been happening for several years now across the state of Texas," Cruz said. "Just recently we had Corpus ISD that took not only that consolidation but looking at other things in terms of employment pay and in terms of the possibility of reduction in force. Those are options certainly that we will consider."

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