McAllen ISD Board Adopts $287.9 Million Budget, Authorizes $100 Million Bond Issuance, Hears Public Comments on Nutrition and Cross Country Program
McAllen ISD, Board of Trustees, Budget Adoption, Bond 2026, Child Nutrition, Compensation Plan, McAllen TX
Arnoldo Mata
McAllen TX - The McAllen Independent School District Board of Trustees adopted a $287.9 million budget for fiscal year 2026-2027, authorized the first $100 million issuance of the district’s voter-approved $335 million bond program, and approved a compensation plan giving all teachers a $1,000 raise at its regular meeting Tuesday, June 23, 2026.
The board also received a detailed child nutrition strategic plan, heard public comments on the cross-country program and school food quality, and acted on a slate of personnel, facilities, and bond-related items.
Budget Adoption
Deputy Superintendent for Business and Operations Lorena Garcia presented the final 2026-2027 budget at a public hearing that drew no public comment. The adopted budget includes $283 million in revenue against $287.9 million in appropriations, with the gap covered by a $2.96 million draw from the fund balance and $1.96 million in maintenance tax note interest earnings. The total adopted budget is $287,923,805, divided between a general fund of $275,245,960 and a debt service fund of $12,677,845.
Garcia confirmed the district’s projected fund balance at the close of 2025-2026 stands at $95 million, dropping to $92 million after the planned draw. That still leaves the district with 132 operational days in reserve against a minimum policy requirement of 75 days.
The proposed tax rate remains unchanged at 93.22 cents per $100 valuation. A newly required Taxpayer Impact Statement, posted to the district’s website June 10, shows the median homestead value after exemptions dropping from $122,465 to $98,988, reducing the estimated tax bill from $1,141.62 to $922.77, a savings of approximately $211 to the average taxpayer. The board adopted the budget 7-0.
Compensation Plan
After tabling the compensation plan before closed session amid a debate over whether to raise teacher pay from 1.5% to 2%, the board returned to open session and voted 3-4 to reject the higher proposal before approving the administration’s original recommendation 7-0. All teachers will receive a $1,000 raise, with additional pass-through amounts for teachers at the three-year and five-year experience thresholds tied to the state’s teacher retention allotment requirements. Hourly employees will receive a 3% midpoint increase and administrators a 1% midpoint increase.
For the full account of the compensation debate, see the companion story here.
Bond Issuance Authorized
The board voted 7-0 to adopt an order authorizing the issuance of McAllen ISD Unlimited Tax School Building Bonds, Series 2026, delegating authority to the Board President and Superintendent to execute documents related to the bond sale, which is projected to occur in late August. Bond counsel Matt Lee of Norton Rose Fulbright explained the parameters order limits the first issuance to $100 million in construction fund proceeds, noting the par amount sold may be approximately $95 million with premium generating the remaining funds. “In no event will either the par amount or the construction fund deposit exceed the $100 million that’s in that first parameter,” Lee said.
The board also approved Request for Qualifications 2026-1039 establishing a pool of bond underwriters for the life of the four-tranche program through 2031. Financial advisor Angel Magallanes of Estrada Hinojosa explained the pool approach. “Having this pool of about 15 allows us flexibility because we are going to sell this within four tranches within the next four to five years,” Magallanes said, noting that a syndicate of multiple underwriters broadens the investor base and can lower interest rates. The pool was approved 7-0.
Bond Oversight Committee and Project Manager RFQ
Garcia presented an updated bond oversight committee charter incorporating board feedback, and reported that names for committee membership have been received from one board member. The board agreed to hold a late July meeting to formally vote on the charter, approve the 1,000-point RFQ scoring matrix, incorporate board interview points into the scoring system, and approve the bond oversight committee composition simultaneously, so all elements are in place before the project manager RFQ is advertised.
Trustees discussed whether the board’s interview portion should carry a fixed share of the 1,000 points, with a suggestion of 200 to 300 points reserved for the board and 700 to 800 assigned to the administrative scoring process. Board members also agreed that a formal rubric should accompany the interview process to provide an objective scoring framework. “Maybe we can ask Mr. Hansen to help us with that,” one trustee suggested, referencing construction attorney David Hansen who presented to the board the previous week.
Garcia confirmed that no bond project has been awarded or assigned. “Just to clarify, because there are rumors out in the community, no bond project has been assigned or awarded,” one trustee said. “We’re months away from that.”
Regarding the project clustering for architects and engineers, Garcia presented a preliminary grouping developed by Executive Director of Facilities Ruben Trevino, dividing the bond projects into buckets by campus and type. Trustees confirmed the first bucket would bundle CTE buildings and multipurpose buildings at each comprehensive high school as a single architectural scope, while subsequent buckets would cover front entrance reconfigurations, campus refreshes, classroom expansions, and the district-managed renovation projects. Trustees also noted the HVAC upgrades at Memorial High School, for which design documents already exist, may be pulled from the architectural bundle and handled separately to avoid duplicate design costs.
Child Nutrition Strategic Plan
Child Nutrition Director Sonia Esquivel presented a four-goal strategic plan for the department, drawing extended board discussion.
The plan’s central goal is to increase scratch cooking from 17% to 71% of meals over three years, an increase of 18 percentage points per year. Starting with the August 2026 menu rollout, cereal offerings will be updated. In October 2026, two new breakfast items and two side serving changes will be introduced. In January 2027, raw beef will be introduced as a lunch entree, cooked centrally at the district’s central kitchen and distributed to campuses. Additional menu items will be introduced in March 2027. Esquivel noted the district has applied to participate in the Eat Real nutrition improvement program, which would make McAllen ISD one of five Texas school districts in the cohort, and is also on a waiting list for a ChefAnn Foundation program.
Trustees asked pointed questions about the removal of juice from the breakfast menu in April, which caused a 4% drop in participation. Esquivel confirmed juice was reintroduced in May and participation recovered by the same amount. The only item reintroduced was juice, she said, confirming it was likely the direct cause of the drop.
Discussion turned to what will replace juice going forward. Esquivel said the department is exploring vegetable juice options, noting that flavored milk will be removed from the breakfast menu and replaced with only unflavored fat-free and 1% milk as another step to reduce added sugars. She also noted that bananas, one of the replacement fruit options offered when juice was removed, contain more sugar per serving than juice.
One trustee asked staff to develop clearer definitions for terms in the strategic plan, including scratch-cooked, minimally processed, and ultra-processed, and asked for nutritional standards beyond federal minimums. “We’re not doing scratch cooking because we want to. It’s because it’s nutritionally better for our students,” the trustee said. Another trustee commended the department for setting an added sugar target of 6.5% of calories rather than the USDA standard of 10%.
Esquivel flagged a potential revenue risk for 2027-2028, when the district’s Community Eligibility Provision certification will expire after four years. Current modeling suggests the free meal reimbursement rate could drop from 90.32% to 77.37% of total meals, reducing monthly reimbursement revenue by approximately $270,000 per month based on October claim data. Garcia confirmed the department could cover the difference with fund balance in the first year but would need to become self-sustaining thereafter through participation increases, reduced labor and food costs, and expanded a-la-carte sales.
The central kitchen upgrade project, estimated at $1 million, is in planning stages and includes a commercial dishwasher, blast chiller, and braiser replacements to support scratch cooking expansion.
Public Comments
Two of three registered speakers addressed the board.
Fran Siller spoke on behalf of parents and student athletes in the Nikki Rowe cross-country program, raising concerns about recent changes in program leadership and whether district procedures and personnel protocols were properly followed. “Many parents and athletes have concerns regarding recent changes within the cross-country program and the manner in which those decisions were communicated and implemented,” Siller said. She also noted that at the recent end-of-season banquet, contributions and recognitions of departing coaches were omitted from award certificates. “We are not here to create conflict or assign blame. We are here to respectfully advocate for transparency, accountability, and consistent adherence to district policy and process,” Siller said.
Hershel Patel addressed the board on school nutrition, presenting data-backed arguments against the district’s current breakfast offerings. “Anyone who tells you that the chicken pancake bites, the chicken sandwiches, the chicken tenders, and even the hash browns are not battered and fried products are lying to you,” Patel said. He noted that when juice was removed in April, teachers brought sliced bread to school to keep students from going hungry, and that students chose plain bread over 40 other menu items. “What does that tell you about a menu that relies entirely on sugar to drive participation?” Patel said. He also argued that savory breakfast items outperform sweet items in participation rates but are offered less frequently.
Other Actions and Reports
The board received a report on federal grant applications for Title I Part A, Title II Part A, Title IV Part A, Title I-C Migrant, Perkins B CTE, the 21st Century grant, special education formula and preschool grants, the discretionary deaf grant, Title III Part A for English Language Acquisition, and the Employment and Training Administration grant.
One trustee asked how the administration is managing the risk of federal funding cancellations. “We haven’t heard of any right now, but really these are supplemental, so if we would need to take care of some of the expenses, we will have to take care of them,” staff responded.
The board received a SHARS report covering three years of Medicaid billing disputes. The district filed formal appeals for fiscal years 2022, 2023, and 2024. The 2022 informal appeal was denied, the formal appeal was dismissed, and the case is proceeding to federal court over a $391,509 settlement amount. The 2023 formal appeal filed May 14, 2025, is pending. The 2024 formal appeal filed May 5, 2026, is also pending, with a $618,394 settlement amount under dispute. Staff confirmed every Texas school district is in a similar position, as the state retroactively changed billing rules without federal approval.
The board approved a $15,000 donation from the Castaneda family to Dr. Carlos Castaneda Elementary, accepted anonymously, 7-0.
The board approved Onward as the top-ranked firm for third-party Medicaid billing services under cooperative quote 2027-10005 and authorized administration to negotiate a one-year contract with three renewal options, 7-0.
Policy DGBA local, covering employee grievances, was pulled from the agenda and deferred to the first meeting after summer break.
The board approved delegating superintendent authority to hire Chapter 21 contract and professional at-will employees from June 24 through Aug. 11, 2026, to prevent losing qualified candidates during the summer break. The superintendent committed to presenting a full list of hires at the first August board meeting, 7-0.
The board approved Competitive Sealed Proposal 2027-1004 for the Dorothea Brown Middle School community track parking lot project and authorized the superintendent to execute a contract, 7-0.
The board approved May and June budget amendments for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Key amendments include a $1.2 million health plan shortfall, a $600,000 SHARS reserve, and a $325,000 athletics amendment. The fund balance began the year at $152 million and is projected to end at $118 million, with the primary driver being the maintenance tax note defeasance payment made this year.
Following closed session, the board approved human resources recommendations for 2025-2026 and 2026-2027, each 7-0. The board approved the appointment of Karina Perez as Director of Employee Benefits and Safety/Risk Management for 2026-2027, 7-0, and Jennifer Alanise Lopez as principal at Dr. Pablo Perez Elementary for 2026-2027, 7-0.
The board adjourned at 9:19 p.m. The next scheduled meeting is a strategic planning roundtable workshop on June 25, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.