Alleged financial mismanagement has led the Tioga Independent School District (TISD) to move to terminate roughly 20 employees, including teachers.
TISD issued an announcement to district parents just days before Christmas, becoming one of the only (if not the only) school districts in Texas firing teachers during a statewide teacher shortage.
The news soured the holiday for many in the small community who had to inform students that some of their most beloved educators would not be in the classroom come January because TISD could not responsibly manage its budget.
Similar concerns over poor administration and undervaluation of teachers have plagued the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) in recent years. Like TISD, DISD appears to suffer from gross mismanagement, particularly in how it spends district taxpayer money, prioritizing superintendent pay over supporting its hard-working teachers and staff with the resources and classroom supplies necessary to educate DISD students.
“I had to come home get eye level with [my son] and say hey buddy your teacher is not going to be coming back,” said TISD parent Jessica How, speaking with NBC 5.
How began attending school board meetings in recent months upon learning of TISD’s financial distress.
“It was building a high school, and building a big football program and thinking more housing that was coming in, and they would be able to raise the tax rate and those things not coming through,” said How.
Neither TISD nor DISD has been reaping the benefits of the broader North Texas population boom. The two districts represent some of the only parts of the region to actually lose taxpaying residents in recent years, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
In a bid to shore up its finances, TISD’s Board of Trustees moved to put the district on a four-day school week, lay off 20 employees (including teachers), and reduce the salary of the current acting superintendent.
While the hard-working educators will likely not have too difficult a time finding work in neighboring school districts, the emotional toll right around the holidays was difficult for some.
“When your heart feels it, it’s totally different, I had to go back and tell my kids and they were devastated, I had one that wouldn’t let go of me all day,” said kindergarten teacher Beth Gunning.
NBC 5 reported further that the state government will likely step in and exercise some authority over the district’s spending.
“This is a very small town and you don’t always have people in such a small town that know how to handle such a big thing,” stated How.
Though that may make some sense in Tioga, the same cannot be said for Dallas. DISD comprises 153,861 students and 22,222 staff members across 230 schools. Meanwhile, the district’s superintendent, Stephanie Elizalde could be paid as much as $440,000 for the current academic year, as The Dallas Express previously reported.
