Interim superintendent turns down pay raise
MARFA — When neighboring Fort Davis ISD went from facing a total shut down to a district flush with cash — using a tweak on existing programs that let districts partner with early childhood providers for attendance revenue — the Marfa ISD superintendent and school board members took notice. When the school board met Monday night, Interim Superintendent Arturo Alferez told board members he was in conversations with the Fort Davis ISD deputy superintendent to figure out how this would work for Marfa.
FDISD partnered with seven private schools to dual enroll their pre-K through second grade students — from as far away as El Paso and Monahans. The district’s enrollment jumped from 170 to 486 students, which propelled state funding from $70,000 to $1.5 million, since the state funds schools on average daily attendance for each student. With the partnerships, FDISD provides some curriculum, helps the schools monitor attendance and other Texas Education Agency requirements and pays for a minimal number of employees in those schools. In return for getting $3,000 to $6,160 for each of the students enrolled from the nonprofits, the district then pays the partner schools a sum of money, usually about 50% of the new revenue it gets minus any salaries it took on.
Facing a potential $1.1 million deficit this year — the second year in a row the district has faced a deficit of that size — Alferez said he realized Marfa ISD had to do something to survive, particularly since its enrollment, which drives state funding, went from 341 kids in 2019 to 194 this year. Alferez said he met with Michelle Hartmann, FDISD deputy superintendent and an early architect of the unique partnership program, to go over particulars.
“We met on Friday and we’ve been trying to see the layout, how it all works, how it’s legal with TEA and the education code,” Alferez said. “It was a good overview.” The board was all thumbs up for exploring the idea further and potentially meeting with Hartmann to hear the possibilities for themselves.
The district is also facing a $1.7 million recapture payment required by the state, something that the partnerships could potentially reduce greatly or eliminate with increased enrollment. Recapture forces districts with higher property value to send money to the state to disburse to “poorer” property value districts. The concept — the best that years of lawsuits and legislative proposals could do to make school funding equitable across the state — has had the unintended consequence of bankrupting districts that have higher costs to serve poor students and often have lower enrollment, and thus less funding.
Alferez said Marfa ISD would likely partner with Head Start facilities, federally funded preschool programs that provide early education, food and social services to low-income families’ children. That was the original intent of the program designed by TEA. At least 53 districts across the state use the partnerships, almost all focusing on facilities that are part of the Head Start program. Fort Davis ISD expanded the idea to schools of different varieties — including a Christian school in Alpine — and up to second grade. (The private, nonprofit schools do not want to have to administer the STAAR test for accountability standards starting in third grade.) However, big urban districts like Austin ISD only retain 10% of the new revenue they get in their partnerships for administrative costs — not half the money generated by new enrollment. It’s unclear if even more districts will pile on the partnership bandwagon as a means of survival with the backdrop of the Legislature’s recent failure to funnel surplus funds into public education.
Interim superintendent says no to salary bump
The school board went into executive session Monday to discuss Alferez’s contract, but didn’t take action because the interim superintendent turned down their offer for more compensation.
“The board was going to give me a raise on my contract,” Alferez said. “I went ahead and turned it down. I thanked the board for its consideration and thanked the board for giving me that opportunity. But with the situation we’re in right now, getting a raise was not the appropriate time. For me, I’d rather give a raise across the district for everyone.”
Due to its strained finances, Marfa ISD is not planning on any raises for employees this year, although some will get step increases that define higher pay based on years of service. Alferez said he hopes a new revenue stream from partnerships can allow the district to look at pay raises next year to help retain school employees. He’s the only employee that doesn’t get a step increase, which is why he said the board considered a pay bump for him. Alferez currently makes $85,000 a year.
The board will meet today for another budget workshop at 6 p.m. at Marfa ISD, 400 W Lincoln St, to take yet another look at the budget outlook. Another workshop is planned after that, and then the district will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget and tax rate. Alferez said they are still meeting continually to look at ways to cut small pieces of the budget, and within the week, the district should have a much better idea of the tax rate and its impact on property owners.