School board tackles budget amid federal uncertainty

The Socorro School board met on May 28 and unanimously approved the fiscal year 2026 budget and the K12 Elior food service contract renewal.

Budget report

Stephanie Rivas, director of finance, presented a budget to the board. She reported an estimated operating budget for fiscal year 2026 of $17,869,795, which supports 194.17 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions across the district.

Rivas said personnel and benefits expenses compromise 85.8% of the budget with a mandatory 4% salary increase that breaks down to starting salaries for level one teachers at $55,000, level two at $65,000 and level three at $75,000.

She said health insurance premiums went up 9.95%, dental insurance premiums went up 4% and risk liability insurance went up 16% ($1.1 million).

The budget report said the district maintained staffing levels at all school sites and added an English language learner (ELL) teacher to Parkview Elementary.

To enhance pay equity, Rivas stated that starting salaries for security guards and IT staff have been increased by specific amounts. Additionally, a stipend was established for a district attendance coordinator to support board goal four, and coaching stipends were also raised to match those of comparable districts.

Coaches who receive more than the base stipend will retain their current pay. The budget also allocates for an assistant golf coach and a girls’ wrestling coach.

The budget provides for high school head coaches to receive $5,000, high school assistant coaches $2,500, middle school head coaches $2,000 and middle school assistant coaches $1,800.

“We made sure there were no wages or pay cuts. Everybody got raises. And I just want to say that we are definitely a not for profit, because our operating budget will be 17. 8 million we only received 17.5 million this week, so we did not receive enough money from PED to cover our entire operating budget, which is why we need to rely on other revenue,” Rivas said.

In the budget report, the board budget committee identified four priorities for the district, including a half-time athletic administrator, a water fountain for both baseball and football fields, security cameras at all school sites and a doorbell at San Antonio Elementary School.

The board members asked about federal funding uncertainties and how the district could prepare with cash reserves.

“We’re all trying to wrap our heads around what’s right or wrong here. I think to make this easier, to make us all feel a little better, I think we all understand the feds up in the air. There’s a whole lot of this stuff that you guys really can’t answer.” School Board member Dave Hicks said, “Can we get a really good understanding of what is in cash on hand too because when all this boils down to is, how much cash on hand are we going to have to handle all this with when things fall apart?”

Rivas said that the district had spent $13.9 million from operations, which averages to $1.2 million per month. On hand, they keep three months’ worth of cash, which equates to $3.6 million. Of the $4.2 million cash balance, they won’t touch $3.6 million, which gives the district $600,000 of available cash to use for items such as part of the risk liability insurance premium.

Rivas confirmed that anything with an asterisk in the summary revenue chart was not an actual number.

Superintendent Joyce Gormley stated that they have contacted the Public Education Department (PED) and several departments to inquire about the reliability of the funding numbers.

“They have no idea. They said that in the past, the state had received a planning award from the federal government and then anticipated the planning awards to the LEAs, based on that. This year they’ve heard nothing.” Gormley said, “So what was a little bit surprising to hear, is that on all of the federal programs, they did 90% of last year’s award because they’ve had no communication from the federal government on what the states can do.”

Rhiannon Crespin, director of human resources, explained that with federal programs, the school spends the money, then sends a bill to the state and they get a refund.

“We have to float those expenses and while the state has done better this year in processing the RFR (request for reimbursement) in 30 days, but it usually averages between 30 and 90 days for them to process those” Crespin said.

She said that although it’s good to have a cash balance, they don’t want it to grow too much, which could cause issues with an audit.

“So while we want to keep a minimum balance there, we don’t want to keep more, because, like board member Hicks said, we’re not a for profit. We want to spend it on the kids. We want to take care of our staff. We want to take care of our facilities.” Crespin said.

Tara Jaramillo emphasized the importance of recognizing that Socorro won’t be the only district facing challenges if it does not receive federal funding. She mentioned that there is a committee meeting scheduled to discuss federal funding and the state’s response, and she inquired if anyone had heard any updates related to this matter.

Gormley said she has only heard hearsay.

“I’ve heard that the governor has committed to ensuring that districts are held harmless if the federal programs get cut for next year. My understanding is that even with the reserve we have, the governor will not be able to keep all districts held harmless for the next three years,” Gormley said.

Food service

Gormley told the board that K12 Elior had a new director who she felt has been responsive to every issue they’ve brought up.

“While it wasn’t probably the year that we had hoped for, they have really been reactive; they’ve listened and adjusted every time. I think the process is improving, the communication is improving,” Gormley said.

Board President Pauline Jaramillo and Vice President Tara Jaramillo asked for survey results and if K-12 Elinor had made the follow-through on the action items they discussed last year.

Megan Alderson said she didn’t have the survey results prepared but could provide it to them and reported she didn’t know about the action items and requested a copy.

Hicks said they needed to improve on communication with the board and community.

Alderson said they plan on making a lot of improvements, especially better communication.

“We’re definitely going to work on the shortfalls that happened the past year, whether it’s food quality, or just educating the public on what it is we provide nutrition services, making sure that incidents like the applesauce are straightened out and cleared up,” Alderson said.

The food service contract with K12 Elior was unanimously renewed by the school board for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.