Finance jitters prompt frustrations at Weslaco school board workshop

Frustration over finances flared at a July 28 Weslaco school board workshop during which one trustee called for an external financial audit and the district’s superintendent vocally defended operations from what he described as exceptional board negativity.

 

In June Superintendent Richard Rivera told trustees the district had a healthy fund balance and made major strides during the past school year, though enrollment and average daily attendance numbers tied to funding have declined in contrast to Weslaco ISD’s expectations.

 

Trustees peppered administrators with finance questions in June and July, though criticism has been muted compared to more heated budget discussions at Rio Grande Valley school districts in recent memory.

 

 

However, the trustee who called for an external financial audit — Marcos De Los Santos — appeared to have grown frustrated with administrators’ inability to answer some of his finance questions at the July workshop.

 

“I’m not leaving the meeting very comfortable at all based on all the figures that we have and that we’ve seen. And what we’ve been told,” he said.

 

Rivera said very little during the discussion.

 

Just as the meeting ended, however, he defended Weslaco ISD’s operations and sounded pretty frustrated himself.

 

“No one’s ever happy in this district,” Rivera told the board. “All I hear are complaints, guys. And that’s OK, that’s your job, I understand…Staff and I work very hard in this district. And we don’t hide anything, everything is up front.”

 

Trustees had praised Rivera during the meeting and Board President Isidoro Nieto tried to smooth things over.

 

“But you know what, it’s good discussions, because that will make us better,” he said. “You as a superintendent, you’ve always done well and you will continue to do well. But when board members have questions I think it’s important to have a workshop.”

 

“I understand, I understand. But it’s all negative,” Rivera said, throwing up his hands.

 

“Thanks guys,” he added, signaling an end to the meeting.

 

In June, Rivera told trustees that the district had made some major accomplishments during the last school year.

 

The district passed a $160 million bond and addressed a $16 million budget deficit, he said. It had also been able to reward employees financially while keeping a competitively low tax rate and performing well in terms of academic testing. 

 

Rivera acknowledged fairly significant miscalculations in terms of average daily attendance, which determines lots of school district funding.

 

 

Weslaco fell short of its attendance improvement goals in 2025 — $1.625 million short.

 

The district actually lost average daily attendance compared to last year, resulting in a shortfall of $561,000.

 

CFO David Robledo told trustees administration is keeping its attendance estimate the same for next year in light of that.

 

“Is it safe to budget it at 14,500 again this year even though our numbers of enrollment are less and we didn’t even hit it last year? Will it come back to bite us?” Trustee Jaclyn Sustaita said.

 

Robledo says he’s hopeful and that the district plans to tie an incentive stipend to attendance numbers.

 

De Los Santos was concerned with larger monetary figures and rumblings in the district that its numbers don’t add up.

 

“These are, like, red flags for me, that kind of other people were telling me about or reaching out to me about and I ignored,” he said.

 

De Los Santos said he’s worried about a potential significant operational deficit from the previous year carrying over to next year. He’s also worried about over $17 million the district drew from its fund balance to pay for improvements, among them HVAC project, turf replacement and furniture.

 

 

“The question is, here, is do we have a deficit?” De Los Santos said.

 

Rivera said at least part of the money being discussed didn’t constitute a deficit and Robledo noted that figures De Los Santos referred to were tentative — though he said administration would need time to give a more concrete response.

 

“And so any of those questions could always be shared to the superintendent, and then that way we’d have enough time to actually put together a good answer,” Robledo said.

 

De Los Santos described an external forensic audit as a fair way to better understand the district’s finances, a suggestion other trustees didn’t vocally oppose.

 

“I think it’s essential that we know exactly where our standing is before we continue to make decisions, because our decisions are increasing the expenditures and the overhead and the operations of our school district,” he said.