DFW News App

HARLINGEN — The school district’s student enrollment numbers dropped to 16,199 last month, down from a projected 16,300.

As they planned the district’s new $222.9 million budget, school board members projected enrollment at 16,300 students, Shane Sturbhart, the district’s spokesman, said.

The previous year’s enrollment stood at 16,763.

Meanwhile, the district’s fund balance covering its general fund and its food service operations was standing at $30.9 million as of the end of September, Ida Ambriz, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services, told board members during a Tuesday meeting.

While the district’s total assets stood at $41.3 million, with debt service at $1.1 million, its total liabilities were at $10.3 million, with debt service at $3.7 million, she said.

While the district’s beginning to collect property tax revenue this month, September’s debt service showed a negative $2 million following August’s bond payments, Ambriz said.

“That will be replenished soon,” she said.

As of the end of September, the district’s general fund had collected $34.1 million in revenue, with $29.3 million coming from state payments, Ambriz said.

Meanwhile, she said, expenditures were at $35.7 million, resulting in a $1.6 million shortfall.

Next month, officials are planning to begin reviewing the district’s staffing levels, Ambriz said.

In July, the district opened the new year with its fund balance standing at $28 million, a month after officials closed last year’s ledgers with $26 million in cash reserves.

This year, they’re combining the district’s general fund and food service operations’ fund balances, Ambriz said.

Last year, officials worked to cut costs after former Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez’s administration withdrew $23.2 million in cash reserves from a $40 million fund balance to cover operational costs including unbudgeted expenses, dropping cash reserves to $17.7 million by the opening of the 2024-2025 school year.

Through the year, Superintendent Veronica Kortan led officials through a new fiscal plan, slashing costs while “right-sizing” staffing levels, cutting about 100 positions, including 22 positions within the district’s central office.

The post Harlingen school district enrollment drops to 16,199 students appeared first on MyRGV.com.