McAllen, Delinquent Taxes, FIRST Rating, TIA, School Board
Arnoldo Mata
McAllen TX - The McAllen Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 5-1 Tuesday to approve the ranking of firms and begin contract negotiations with Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP for delinquent tax collection services, after trustees raised questions about a significant discrepancy in collection rate figures submitted by competing firms during the regular board meeting held Oct. 20, 2026.
Questions Over Collection Rate Data
Before the vote, an audience member identified as Adam Gutierrez, a partner with Purdue Brandon Fielder Collins and Mott, told the board that the incumbent firm, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, had reported a three-year average collection rate of 96% in its response to the district’s Request for Qualifications, while his firm had reported 67%. However, Gutierrez said that using official records from the Hidalgo County Tax Office and the same one-year measure the district requested, McAllen ISD’s own collection rate over the past three years averaged 64%.
“I’m not suggesting anyone intentionally misstated their numbers, but a gap that large suggests that the firms might have calculated these collection numbers differently,” Gutierrez told the board. “Before relying on these figures to award this contract, we respectfully ask that the board have them explained and verified using the same method for every firm. The district deserves a decision based on accurate, verifiable numbers.”
Chief Financial Officer Garcia told the board the district had requested a written explanation from Linebarger. In its response, the firm stated that “gross collections are the appropriate benchmark for collection work as they represent all delinquent accounts paid by delinquent taxpayers and attorneys fees paid to the firm.”
Trustees questioned whether all firms had interpreted the RFQ question the same way, noting the question asked for “the average percentage of tax collections turned over from July 1st to June 30th for the past three years for your clients.”
“I don’t know how to word things better or how to help purchasing come up with a better way that ensures that our vendors are submitting data so that you are comparing true apples to apples,” one board member said. “But it’s concerning when there are questions like that.”
Another board member said the discrepancy should have been flagged earlier. “It’s frustrating when this one question sways it when it could have been caught before it came to the board,” the board member said. “There’s a huge discrepancy. Let’s iron this out or figure out what caused the confusion.”
Garcia confirmed the district has time to conduct further review through January. “If the board would like to take more time, or if the board feels that maybe they want to take another step, like interviews, that would be another option,” Garcia said. “There is some time available for that.”
The board initially approved the ranking, then voted separately 5-1 to begin negotiations with Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson LLP. One board member voted against both motions.
District Earns FIRST Rating of ‘Superior Achievement’
For the 23rd time in 24 years, McAllen ISD received the state’s highest financial rating under the Texas Education Agency’s Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas, known as FIRST. Deputy Superintendent for Business and Operations Lorena Garcia told the board the district earned a score of 98 out of 100, based on 2024-2025 financial data, receiving full points on every indicator except one.
The district lost two points on Indicator 8, which measures the ratio of short-term assets to short-term liabilities. Garcia said the district’s ratio was 2.64, below the 3.0 required for full points, because a 2011 maintenance tax note of $15 million was counted as a short-term liability.
“We had already set aside the funds and had been doing so for the duration of the maintenance tax notes, and we paid the note off in full in February 2026,” Garcia said. “We were simply following instructions of the Texas Education Agency.”
A board member asked Garcia to clarify the circumstances in plain language. “The two points that we lost were because we paid off one of our loans faster and that reduced our total fund balance to a degree that the state would usually say is significant, but it was because of strong financial management practices in paying ahead?” the board member asked.
Garcia clarified the district had not paid early. “We didn’t necessarily pay it ahead. We paid it on time,” Garcia said. “However, it was one liability that was $15 million, so it skewed our total liabilities coming due within the next 12 months.”
Garcia said the district has appealed the two-point deduction and the TEA is currently reviewing the appeal. “We should be proud of the 98, and hopefully we’ll have a listening ear at the agency,” a board member said.
The item was for information purposes only and required no board action.
First Six Weeks Academic Data Presented
Associate Superintendents for Instructional Leadership and Instructional Services presented beginning-of-year diagnostic assessment data for elementary and secondary students in mathematics and reading language arts for grades three through eight.
In elementary mathematics, third-grade students scoring on or above grade level increased from 16% to 19% compared to the same period the previous year. Fourth-grade students on or above grade level reached 26%, and fifth-grade data showed a similar upward trend.
“The red, two or more grade levels below, might be large, but these are students starting third grade taking a third grade assessment,” a district administrator said. “It’s beginning of year, so they’ve not had this content taught just yet.”
At the secondary level, seventh-grade mathematics data showed significant growth, while sixth and eighth grades showed areas of need. In reading language arts, English I beginning-of-year assessments showed double-digit growth at some campuses in the approaches level.
Trustees questioned participation rates for a state grant program offering $400 to families of fourth-graders who did not meet grade-level standards on the third-grade English language arts STAAR exam. Of approximately 433 eligible students, eight families had been funded as of the meeting date, up from three as of late September.
“There’s about $175,000 worth of available supports available to families in our community,” a board member said. “It seems like we’re just leaving resources on the table if our parents don’t know that they can access those resources.”
A district administrator said targeted outreach had been conducted, including a parent information session in June and literature sent directly to the families of eligible students in September. “We will continue to make sure that we share this information with our families so that they know to take advantage of that,” the administrator said.
A board member suggested phone calls could improve uptake. “I just think that a phone call, whether in English or Spanish, would make a huge difference,” the board member said. “If there’s a piece of paper that says you qualify for $400, parents may or may not be concerned about sharing personal information on how to get that funding. It may deter people from applying.”
Trustees also raised concerns about the consistency of campus action plans. “I only saw four out of 18 of the elementary campuses that set numeric STAAR or domain targets specifically,” a board member said. “I think it would be really helpful for the board and for the district to see really specific, measurable targets with a mid-year checkpoint and what has to happen in order for a trigger to activate, meaning what does the mid-year target have to be in order to trigger additional support from the district?”
The board was told the district’s primary tier-one math curriculum this year is the SAVVAS platform, following a transition from Go Math, which had been in use since 2014. The item was for information purposes only.
Teacher Incentive Allotment Update
The board received an update on the district’s Teacher Incentive Allotment program from Region One Education Service Center representatives and district TIA Coordinator Dr. John Graci. The district submitted its TIA data for the 2025-2026 school year by the Oct. 22 deadline.
“McAllen ISD is a pilot school, one of our model schools, regarding anything that deals with student learning objectives,” a Region One representative told the board, adding the hub currently supports 175 school districts statewide in the TIA program.
District officials said McAllen ISD operates 13 student growth measures under its local TIA designation system and that performance standards are finalized after all data has been collected at the end of the school year.
“Last year, the committee, based on the feedback regarding the performance standards, determined that we would start setting the targets after all data had been collected at the end of the school year,” Graci said. “That has been communicated and shared.”
Graci said the district’s current data shows a correlation score of 0.24, which qualifies for the full 30 points on the most heavily weighted of 10 validation checks used by Texas Tech University. “We consider it likely that we will be validated using the targets and the performance standards as set up appropriately,” Graci said.
A board member raised concerns about whether teachers understood how performance thresholds are determined, particularly after some said publicly they had met published targets but were not designated. “How can we make sure to continue effective and competent communication to all of our staff involved in TIA?” the board member asked.
Graci said the district plans expanded campus-level outreach this year. “We’re going to be able to get out to the campuses and actually interact with some teachers, attend some PLCs, talk to people face to face,” Graci said.
A Region One representative explained that each district’s performance standards reflect its own data, not statewide averages. “It is inaccurate for people to say if I was in another district I would get X,” a board member said, “because you wouldn’t be teaching the same students and you wouldn’t be operating under the same designation system.”
Designation announcements are expected in February. The item was for information purposes only.