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Sharyland Independent School District, Texas

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Sharyland Independent School District
School Board badge.png
Hidalgo County, Texas
District details
Superintendent: Filomena Leo (Interim)
# of school board members: 7
Website: Link

Sharyland Independent School District is a school district in Texas that serves parts of Hidalgo County. It was the 103rd-largest school district in Texas, serving 9,978 students in 11 schools.[1]

About the district

Sharyland Independent School District is located in Hidalgo County, Texas.

Sharyland Independent School District is located in Hidalgo County, Texas. The county seat of Hidalgo County is Edinburg. The county was home to an estimated 815,996 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[2]

Demographics

Hidalgo County underperformed in comparison to the rest of Texas in terms of higher education attainment, median income and poverty rate. In 2013, 15.9 percent of Hidalgo County residents over 25 years old held undergraduate degrees compared to 26.7 percent of residents statewide. Hidalgo County had a median income of $34,146 compared to $51,900 for Texas as a whole. The poverty rate for Hidalgo County was 34.8 percent in comparison to the state's average of 17.6 percent.[2]

Racial Demographics, 2013[2]
Race Hidalgo County (%) Texas (%)
White 97.1 80.3
Black or African American 0.8 12.4
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5 1.0
Asian 1.1 4.3
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.0 0.1
Two or More Races 0.4 1.8
Hispanic or Latino 91.0 38.4

Presidential Voting Pattern,
Hidalgo County[3]
Year Democratic Vote Republican Vote
2012 97,969 39,865
2008 90,261 39,668
2004 62,369 50,931
2000 61,390 38,301

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Superintendent

On September 29, 2014, the board voted five to two to accept the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Virginia N. Richter: Eddie Montalvo and Rolando Peña were the dissenting votes. Filomena Leo, former superintendent of La Joya Independent School District and former trustee for South Texas Independent School District, was appointed to serve as interim superintendent until a permanent appointment can be made.[4]

Richter had been appointed to the position in June 2012. She had previous worked in Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District as an educator for 24 years. She has been a resident of the Sharyland district for 25 years. Her son graduated from Sharyland High School.[5]

Richter's resignation marked the second in less than three years. Her predecessor, Scott Owings, resigned in February 2012 due to allegations that he sexually harassed two female school officials at a Texas Association of School Administrators conference.[6] Leo also served as interim superintendent during the search that lead to Leo's appointment.[4]

The circumstances surrounding Richter's resignation were questioned by some community members. The board had recently conducted a "climate survey" of those holding leadership positions in the district, and the results of that survey were reported in open session at the September 23, 2014, meeting of the board. The report of the survey described overall employee satisfaction with school leadership as "very poor" and many stated they would consider employment outside of the district if things did not change. Virginia Townsend, leader of Objective Watchers of the Legal System (OWLS) and former district trustee, objected to the methods by which the survey were reported to the board, saying, “When do you ever evaluate a superintendent in open session? No, you do that in a closed session.”[4]

School board

The Sharyland ISD Board of Trustees consists of seven members who are elected at-large to three-year terms.[7]

Sharyland ISD Board of Trustees
Member Role Term Ends
Fernando Ramirez President 2015
Noel O. Garza Vice President 2016
Ricky Longoria Secretary 2017
Rolando Peña Member 2016
Eddie Montalvo Member 2015
Noe Oliveira Member 2016
Juan F. Zuniga Member 2017

Note: Ricky Longoria is running for Place 1 and Juan Zuniga for Place 2. Place numbers for the remaining five members have yet to be named; see second paragraph of School board elections below.

School board elections

See also: Sharyland Independent School District elections (2015)

Members of the Sharyland ISD Board of Trustees are elected to three-year terms. Two seats were up for election on May 10, 2014; incumbents Ricky Longoria and Juan Zuniga were re-elected to Places 1 and 2, respectively. Place 3 and 4 were scheduled for election on May 9, 2015. Places 5, 6 and 7 are scheduled for election in 2016.

In April 2014, Sharyland ISD's election system was changed from pure, at-large elections to electing members by place with no majority-vote requirements when more than two candidates are running for the same place.[8] While the seats are now elected by place, they are still voted upon at-large.[9]

Public participation in board meetings

The Board of Trustees maintains the following policy regarding public participation in board meetings last updated in 2011:

As long as the requirements of the Open Meetings Act are satisfied and the right of citizens to apply to the Board for redress of their grievances is not abridged, the Board need not provide a public forum for every citizen wishing to express an opinion on a matter. Reasonable restraints on the number, length, and frequency of presentations are permissible. The Board may limit the number of persons it will hear on a particular subject and the frequency with which they may appear, so long as the regulation does not abridge constitutionally guaranteed rights of freedom of speech and to petition nor unfairly discriminate among views seeking expression. [10]

—Sharyland Independent School District's website, (2011)

[11]

Budget

From 1993 to 2013, the Sharyland Independent School District had an average of $51,535,857 in revenue and $55,327,810 in expenditures, according to the United States Census Bureau's survey of school system finances. The district had a yearly average of $47,060,524 in outstanding debt. The district retired $3,017,143 of its debt and issued $8,738,619 in new debt each year on average.[12]

Revenue

The table below separates the district's revenue into the three sources identified by the agency: local, state, and federal.

Revenue by Source
Fiscal
Year
Local State Federal Revenue Total
Total % of Revenue Total % of Revenue Total % of Revenue
2010$31,870,00035.48%$44,819,00049.90%$13,126,00014.61%$89,815,000
2011$32,464,00035.89%$46,579,00051.49%$11,414,00012.62%$90,457,000
2012$33,429,00036.86%$46,795,00051.60%$10,464,00011.54%$90,688,000
2013$35,762,00039.32%$46,968,00051.64%$8,224,0009.04%$90,954,000
Avg.$18,601,38133.69%$27,957,09557.07%$4,977,3819.24%$51,535,857

Expenditures

The table below separates the district's expenditures into five categories identified by the agency:

  • Instruction: operation expenditures, state payments on behalf of the district for instruction and benefits, and retirement system transfers
  • Support Services: support services, food services, and retirement system transfers for support service staff
  • Capital Spending: capital outlay expenditures (i.e., construction, land or facilities purchases, and equipment purchases)
  • Debt & Gov. Payments: payments to state and local governments and interest on school system debt
  • Other: all other non-K-12 programs, except food services
Expenditures by Category
Fiscal
Year
Instruction Support Services Capital Spending Debt & Gov. Payments Other Budget
Total
Total % of Budget Total % of Budget Total % of Budget Total % of Budget Total % of Budget
2010$47,767,00054.11%$29,763,00033.72%$6,574,0007.45%$3,377,0003.83%$793,0000.90%$88,274,000
2011$48,861,00051.86%$30,316,00032.18%$10,485,00011.13%$3,667,0003.89%$881,0000.94%$94,210,000
2012$47,493,00054.66%$29,468,00033.91%$4,573,0005.26%$4,768,0005.49%$592,0000.68%$86,894,000
2013$47,748,00041.60%$30,699,00026.75%$30,127,00026.25%$5,709,0004.97%$490,0000.43%$114,773,000
Avg.$27,087,19049.49%$16,817,71430.34%$8,954,14316.10%$2,045,1903.31%$423,5710.76%$55,327,810

Debt

The table below shows the amount of debt retired, issued, and outstanding in the district for each year.

Debt
Fiscal
Year
Retired Issued Outstanding
2010$2,315,000$1,699,000$77,377,000
2011$11,809,000$18,805,000$84,088,000
2012$10,752,000$58,975,000$132,309,000
2013$3,389,000$2,042,000$131,438,000
Avg.$3,017,143$8,738,619$47,060,524

Teacher salaries

Teachers in Sharyland Independent School District with no experience and a Bachelor's degree start out earning $44,500 and max out at $61,851. Stipends of $1,000 are given to those with Bilingual/ESL or Special Education endorsement. A $4,000 stipend is given to those with a Master's degree in their current area of teaching and $2,500 to those with a Math and Science composite.[13]

Schools in Sharyland ISD

Enrollment

Sharyland Independent School District serves 9,978 students. Sharyland Independent School District does not publicly archive enrollment data.[14]

District schools

Sharyland Independent School District operates 11 schools listed below in alphabetical order:[15]

Sharyland Independent School District Schools
School Name
B.L. Gray Junior High School
Donna Wernecke Elementary School
Harry Shimotsu Elementary School
Jessie Jensen Elementary School
John H. Shary Elementary School
Lloyd and Dolly Bentsen Elementary School
Sharyland Advanced Academic Academy
Sharyland Alternative Education Center
Sharyland High School
Sharyland North Junior High School
Sharyland Pioneer High School

Academic performance

The Texas Education Agency issues an annual accountability report for each school district in the state. This rating determines if district schools fulfill expectations in four categories of educational achievement during a particular school year. The following terms explain these categories:

  • Student Achievement: Measures student performance on the annual Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test.
  • Student Progress: Measures student performance in reading, math and writing courses at the district level.
  • Closing Performance Gaps: Measures year-to-year performance among students in the lowest-performing demographics.
  • Postsecondary Readiness: Measures student readiness for college, employment or military service after graduation.

Sharyland Independent School District received a Met Standard designation on the state's 2013 report. District schools met 95 percent of indicators set forth by state education officials and all four assessment categories. The following table details the district's accountability report during the 2012-2013 school year:[16]

Performance Index Summary, 2012-2013
Category Points earned Maximum points Index score Target score
Student Achievement 18,746 21,864 86 50
Student Progress 1,103 2,600 42 21
Closing Performance Gaps 1,005 1,200 84 50
Postsecondary Readiness 745.6 800 93 75

Contact information

Sharyland ISD logo.jpg
Sharyland School Board
1106 North Shary Road
Mission, TX 78572
Phone: (956) 580-5200

See also

External links

References

  1. Sharyland Independent School District, "2013-2014 Approved Budget, "accessed November 27, 2013
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Quick Facts: Hidalgo County," accessed January 21, 2015
  3. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections, "Presidential General Election Results Comparison - Texas," accessed January 21, 2015
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Monitor, "Sharyland ISD board accepts resignation, appoints interim," September 29, 2014
  5. Joey Horta, Valley Central, "Sharyland ISD’s new superintendent an outsider," June 28, 2012
  6. Carina A. Brunson, Progress Times, "New superintendent official for SISD," July 6, 2012
  7. Sharyland Independent School District, "Sharyland ISD School Board," accessed April 4, 2014
  8. Sharyland Independent School District, "Election Notice: Sharyland Independent School District Adopts New School Board Election System," April 4, 2014
  9. Sharyland ISD Board Policy Manual, "BBB (Local)," accessed January 21, 2015
  10. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  11. Sharyland Independent School District, "Public Participation," May 1, 2011
  12. United States Census Bureau, "Public School System Finances: Historical Data," accessed December 1, 2015
  13. Sharyland Independent School District, "2013-2014 Teacher Salary," accessed April 4, 2014
  14. National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed February 18, 2014
  15. Sharyland Independent School District, "Sharyland ISD Schools," accessed March 13, 2014
  16. Texas Education Agency, "Accountability Summary 2013," accessed June 24, 2014