Financial literacy lesson, conference plans highlighted at Laredo commission meeting; minutes approved

Gabriela Morales, a member and presenter, told the Laredo commission at a Monday meeting at the public library that community financial education must expand after local data showed higher-than-average collection activity.

"If Laredo continues to be the number 1 place where collections happen, it's because we don't have the education, the empowerment, the financial tools to know how to manage the money that we have accordingly," Morales said, describing a volunteer, semester-long class she teaches through Literacy Volunteers of Laredo.

Morales said the class runs two hours every Friday for a full semester, is taught in Spanish when requested, and uses downloadable modules and materials she said she obtained from FDIC.gov. She described core topics — family financial values, comparing financial providers, income and expenses, borrowing basics, savings strategies and retirement products — and urged the commission and partner agencies to make the course more widely available to newcomers, ESL learners and young people.

The presentation came during the commission's communications and announcements segment. Commissioners and attendees discussed logistics for an upcoming community conference on March 29, which Morales and organizers described as a full-day event planned for Falcon Bank's third floor from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The group circulated a flyer and a paper registration form for people who cannot use a QR code; organizers said Angie (staff member) will email the flyer to members and Frida (organizer) will maintain registration lists. Organizers said they hope to attract more than 100 attendees.

Morales detailed classroom practices she uses: making savings a visible, repeatable behavior, teaching students to check fine print on accounts, steering students away from high-cost products such as payday loans, and using small-percentage saving plans that scale up over time. She also encouraged using bank or personal budgeting tools and noted that some banks provide transaction breakdowns and income/expense dashboards.

The commission recorded two formal meeting items during the session: approval of the minutes from Jan. 13, 2025, and scheduling a March meeting to finalize conference arrangements. Sylvia Palumbo moved to approve the Jan. 13 minutes, with Lupita providing the second; the commission approved the minutes by voice vote. The group set a regular March meeting to continue conference planning; organizers said Angie and Frida will finalize and circulate the flyer and registration instructions.

Morales and others urged the commission and city staff to expand access without shaming participants, to consider offering crash courses or semester classes in partnership with Literacy Volunteers of Laredo and local schools, and to remind that Texas requires a financial literacy course to be offered in every high school (per comments attributed in the meeting to the presenter citing the Texas Education Agency requirement). Morales offered to help organizers and pointed attendees to FDIC.gov for resources.

The meeting moved on after the presentation to item 7 (scheduling), and members agreed to continue planning at the next March meeting; details on room reservations and final attendance capacity were to be confirmed by staff and organizers. The commission also identified next steps for distributing flyers and following up with potential community partners.