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La Joya ISD warns of multimillion-dollar shortfall, outlines staffing reorganization and new coaching roles
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Summary
Superintendent and finance staff told the board they expect roughly $10.5 million in revenue impact tied to recent legislation and projected enrollment loss; district proposes new instructional coaches, behavioral and attendance specialists, and family liaisons and says pay raises will be pursued despite limited state funds.
At its April 23 board meeting, La Joya ISD leaders presented a budget and staffing update that forecast a roughly $10.5 million gap tied to enrollment loss and recent state legislation and described a planned reallocation of staff roles toward instructional coaching, student supports and family engagement.
District finance director Mirzette Crespo and Superintendent Dr. Sorensen said campus enrollment is expected to fall and that state changes tied to this legislative session will not fully fund district needs. Crespo said the state’s reported $395-per-student boost would not cover operating expenses and explained the distribution the district has been given: about $237 per pupil in unrestricted funds for maintenance and operations and $118 per pupil (40 percent of the increase) specifically earmarked for employee pay, with roughly 75 percent of that pay money required to be spent on classroom teacher salaries and 25 percent on other staff.
The officials said that distribution constrains what the district can use for general operating costs and warned that estimated revenue shifts, combined with projected enrollment declines, would leave the district with a multi‑million‑dollar shortfall unless it tightens and prioritizes spending. Crespo presented a district-level scenario that estimated an approximately $10.5 million net revenue impact when accounting for anticipated enrollment declines and tax-collection changes tied to recent legislation.
School leaders outlined changes the district plans to make in staffing and central supports to refocus limited resources on measurable student outcomes. Dr. Sorensen and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Little described a set of newly designed position types the district intends to recruit or re-create for next school year:
- Early literacy instructional coaches (five coaches, each with teacher caseloads) and refocused reading specialists aimed at the district’s lowest-performing campuses; - Dual language/ESL instructional coaches replacing Title 3 facilitator roles to support emergent bilingual students and teachers in dual-language classrooms; - College, career and military readiness (CCMR) coaches to case-manage students across grades 9–12 and one coach dedicated to middle-school college-going culture; - Expanded behavioral and mental-health specialists (increasing from three to five) assigned by network/grade level to emphasize prevention as well as crisis response; - Parent, family and community liaisons (re-envisioned parent educator roles) to build outreach and two-way communication with families across neighborhoods; - Attendance student-support specialists at each comprehensive high school plus three district attendance-improvement specialists to work by network; and - Elevation of family/community engagement to a director-level post and creation of an executive director of athletics to coordinate athletics across campuses and connect athletics with academics.
Dr. Little said the district will dissolve some existing job classifications and post new job descriptions; current incumbents may apply but all candidates will go through a formal selection process. Dr. Little also said some postings depend on board votes scheduled later in the meeting and that certain positions would be posted “shortly after tonight or later this week, pending your vote.”
Board members asked whether the district would prioritize existing staff for new roles; Dr. Little said the district will run a competitive selection process and that some current staff are aware of the changes and have been part of consultations. Crespo emphasized the district plans to pursue pay increases regardless of how the legislature’s allotments land, but said the available state-directed dollars will be insufficient to meet all local compensation and operating-cost needs.
The presentation included enrollment context: presenters said the district grew from roughly 9,000 students to more than 23,000 during the boom years described in the centennial presentation and that La Joya ISD now faces an expected loss of roughly 10,000 students in coming years (the district said it will study causes, including national birth-rate declines and other factors). The budget team said it will continue to revise scenarios as the legislature finalizes bills and that the proposed staffing reorganization is intended to align personnel with district priorities and measures of academic return on investment.
The district said it will bring finalized budget recommendations to the board for adoption in June and that tax-rate adoption remains scheduled for the September calendar action. Multiple board members and district leaders framed the changes as intentional shifts to support higher-impact classroom coaching and to strengthen supports for attendance, behavior, English‑learner instruction and CCMR outcomes.
Ending: District leaders stressed that the reorganization is meant to be strategic and data-driven, and they said additional details — including job descriptions, posting schedules and funding sources for instructional materials and training — will be published as part of the summer budget preparation and recruitment sequence.
