Brownsville Independent School District trustees on Thursday unanimously approved a $579 million operating budget for 2023-24, a one-time $1,000 employee-retention stipend and made contingencies for a budget process that is in limbo pending public education funding decisions in Austin.
Trustee Daniella Lopez Valdez made the motion to approve the budget and agreed to amend the stipend ask to $1,000 at the urging of Trustee Minerva Pena. Superintendent Rene Gutierrez sought the board’s clearance to take some of the money from the fund balance, and members agreed.
“The fight is with the governor up there in Texas,” Lopez Valdez said, referencing the lobbying effort in Austin by BISD members. “Our employees deserve more and that is why we’re up there fighting for them.”
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