PSJA ISD reviews teacher incentive allotment, board adopts resolution to temporarily use fund balance for payouts

The Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District board on Monday heard a detailed presentation on the district's Teacher Incentive Allotment program and approved a resolution authorizing the district to use its fund balance to pay eligible teachers before receiving state reimbursement.

Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Doctor Garza presented the district's 2024-25 TIA guidebook and walked trustees through how designations are earned, the district's scoring weights and the timeline for state review and payment. Garza said PSJA has about 1,528 teachers who had received a designation in the preliminary lists and that the district employs 2,039 teachers in total. The board then voted to adopt a resolution allowing the district to temporarily use fund balance to make timely TIA payments, with the understanding the district will be reimbursed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) when TIA funds arrive.

The presentation emphasized the district's local design: a 50/50 weight between teacher evaluation (T-TESS observation domains 2 and 3 focus) and student growth measures, with local thresholds set at 80% (recognized), 85% (exemplary) and 90% (master). Garza told the board that those thresholds are higher than the state's typical cut points and were set after review to avoid score inflation. She also reviewed eligibility deadlines and procedural rules: a teacher must be an active classroom teacher as of Feb. 28, 2025, and must have at least 90 days of service in the school year to generate a designation allotment. Garza said final designations and allotment notices are still being validated by TEA and other reviewers and that final allotments are expected in April or early May, with payments to teachers required to be made by Aug. 31.

Trustees asked about the program's impact on campus performance and how the district will sustain the program. Trustee Castillo asked that staff provide clearer evidence tying TIA-designated teachers to school-level outcomes. Garza and other staff said Texas Tech (the external reviewer contracted to validate designations) runs multiple checks, including a review of evaluation and growth data, and that the designation process includes 13 validation checks; Garza offered to provide trustees additional documentation of those checks and the campus-level lists once final.

Board members also discussed the timing and cash-flow mechanics of paying TIA allotments before TEA reimbursement. The district's finance representatives and Ms. Gonzales explained that, because PSJA is a Sept. 1 district, TEA reimbursements would arrive after the fiscal-year closing indicator is calculated, which could affect the district's first financial rating for the next year. Board members said they had raised the issue with TEA and that TEA had been receptive to reviewing how Sept. 1 districts are treated, but no formal exemption was guaranteed at the meeting. The approved resolution instructs the superintendent or designee to allocate funds from the district fund balance on an interim basis and to reimburse the fund balance upon receipt of TIA funds from TEA.

Trustees praised the number of teachers who qualified for designation and asked for follow-up reports showing campus-level distribution of designated teachers and any correlation with campus accountability metrics.

Votes at the meeting on the resolution and related items were unanimous per the meeting record.