SUPERINTENDENTS SAY STISD OVERTAXES RESIDENTS, WANT A PUBLIC REFERENDUM TO LET TAXPAYERS DECIDE ITS FATE

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

How will State Rep. Erin Gamez vote on this?

With superintendents from school districts in Cameron, Willacy and Hidalgo counties struggling to make ends meet, the South Texas Independent School District (STISD) has enjoyed unfettered spending operating a district that levies an additional tax on the residents of the the three counties who must also pay property taxes to their local districts.

That access to almost unlimited property tax revenue has led to some excesses, including attending "retreats" in such education-friendly locales as the Bahamas with all expenses paid by taxpayers in the three counties while school districts continue to face budgetary difficulties. 

Now Rep. Sergio Muñoz has introduced Texas House Bill 5294 which seeks to prevent STISD from imposing an ad valorem (property) tax and to be operated and funded in the same manner as an open-enrollment charter school.In testimony before the House Public Education Committee, public school district superintendents say it's time for STISD to play by the rules (and funding) that apply to their districts. 

Many South Texas state representatives agree. But until now, it is difficult to determine where State Rep. Erin Gamez (D-Brownsville) stands and whether she will support the bill being pushed by area superintendents.

The district was created in 1964 by the Texas legislature to provide education to disabled youth who were then excluded from public education. It was known as Rio Grande Rehabilitation District until 1973 and renamed South Texas Independent School District in 1974.

STISD started as a residential school in Edinburg, named South Texas High School to accommodate students of the lower Rio Grande Valley, STISD opened another school by the same name in Harlingen in 1967. In 1982, STISD moved the Harlingen school to a new facility in San Benito.

Lawmakers changed STISD’s purpose in 1983 to operate as a vocational magnet schools. Soon after, South Texas High School for Health Professions (Med High) opened in Mercedes in 1984. It was followed by The Science Academy of South Texas (Sci Tech), also in Mercedes, in 1989.

In 1993, South Texas High School in Edinburg was redirected and reopened as The Teacher Academy of South Texas (Teacher Academy), and in 2003 morphed into a Teacher Academy and added business and technology programs and the school was renamed South Texas Business, Education & Technology Academy (BETA). That same year, South Texas High School in San Benito was redirected and reopened as South Texas Academy of Medical Technology (Med Tech).

In 2008, the junior high from South Texas Business, Education & Technology Academy (BETA) separated and opened as South Texas Preparatory Academy (STPA), the Medical Academy in 2015, in Olmito, across the expressway from Rancho Viejo. Then came the district opened Rising Scholars Academy of South Texas (Rising Scholars Academy)the South Texas ISD World Scholars (World Scholars, for short). Through the program change, the campus will expand its International Baccalaureate (IB) course offerings and continue to offer Dual Enrollment in partnership with South Texas College (STC) and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).

But superintendents from public school district say that STISD has been levying a tax that was approved by voters in Cameron, Willacy and Hidalgo almost 60 years ago to provide special education services to children in the three counties. Now, with every district offering special education, it has become redundant, a double property tax, they say.

As a result, the STISD taxing district across the three counties generates $12,600 per student. This is $5,300 more per student than every other district in the valley.

The South Texas ISD programming has veered from the original intention but continue to levy a tax that was intended to fund a program for the most vulnerable students in Rio Grande Valley  communities.

HB 5294 would place a referendum before taxpayers to let them decide if STISD should continue to pay this additional tax. It is NOT about eliminating the district. But don't feel sorry for the STISD. The bill makes a provision to fund STISD as a charter school in the event that the referendum passes. 

That would still give them approximately $1,800 more per student than your conventional public school. This higher amount is to account for facility.