Concerns over low pay persist
The Presidio ISD School Board met last Wednesday and voted unanimously to approve a $500 incentive bonus for staff. The one-time payment is in line with recent years and will be paid out in mid-December. “Some Christmas cheer,” Board President Perla Nativdad said to the sparsely attended meeting as she recorded the votes to approve the measure.
Wages for educators are under continuous scrutiny. Jocelyn Lopez, a special needs aide in the school district, took the microphone during the public forum to request that the board consider better aligning pay with the cost of living. Speaking quietly and reading from a script, she carefully outlined how increases in rent and groceries have outpaced the standard 2% raise. The suggestion was met with silence. By its own rules, the board does not respond to comments made in open forum.
Currently, a special needs aide with five years of experience makes $12.45 an hour in the school district. This is nearly $4 an hour less than the advertised starting pay at the McDonald’s in Alpine. Recently, Elon Musk made headlines with an eye-popping pay package from Tesla that is worth the combined income of all elementary school teachers in the country.
The teachers at Presidio ISD certainly earn their pay. Hevila Ramos, the head of special programs, outlined upcoming changes to the gifted and talented program. The overhaul includes more training, testing and instructional materials plus designated class time for students in the program. Nine percent of Presidio students participate in the gifted program, which is likely an undercount of eligible kids. Currently, students are only tested in kindergarten and by parent request. Going forward, expanded screening will be offered to students in second and fourth grade.
Elementary and middle school instructors in the gifted program summarized plans to expand a new approach that encourages students to explore concepts through activities. The group intends to lead off-campus trips to the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum in Midland and Blue Origin in Van Horn, along with in-class projects involving hummingbird kits and microscopes. The district is sending four teachers to a gifted and talented training session in Grapevine to augment the 30 hours of standard GT training that staff receive to accommodate gifted children in their classes.
Ramos also presented challenges with the bilingual program. The developing program currently serves nearly half the students in the district, with higher rates of participation in the elementary school. In the coming months, Ramos will be leading campus audits and several parent workshops to help address the chronically low rates of English proficiency. Language proficiency is an important part of state test scores and overall student confidence.
The kids themselves have had remarkable accomplishments. The cross-country team and head coach Jaime Bustamante attended the beginning of the board meeting to celebrate their qualifying for the state championships. The board also recognized high school seniors Yaren Loya and America Loya for their work as volunteer firefighters, which they balance in addition to school. High school student Samuel Sanchez was awarded for his work with the pre-kinder walkthrough, and elementary student Ashley Franco was congratulated on her contributions to the recent Pumpkin Patch.
Upcoming events include the the holiday concert on December 11. The next board meeting is on December 17.