Full-time employees at McAllen ISD are receiving a $600 “retention” payment.

The retention incentive payment was approved by district board members during a Tuesday meeting. According to the district, over 33 hundred employees will receive the payment next week.

An official with the McAllen chapter of the American Federation of Teachers said the organization hopes the payment helps the district retain teachers.

“We have very qualified teachers, and we would hate to lose those types of teachers to other districts,” McAllen American Federation of Teachers Vice President Juan Lopez said.

Lopez is also a Spanish teacher with the district, and said these past couple of months have been hard for some teachers because the district had to cut some teacher planning periods.

“Not just at the campus where I am at, but you can hear it throughout the school district,” Lopez said. “Some of them are thinking of retiring because they are overwhelmed with the work."

The incentive for full-time employees is costing the district a little over $2 million.

“It is coming from the general fund because fortunately we were able to put a good amount into our fund balance,” McAllen ISD Superintendent Rene Gutierrez said. 

According to Gutierrez, the district saved $35 million for the fund balance by cutting “unnecessary” software programs, and closing 150 positions through attrition.

The district is currently facing a $4.5 million dollar deficit, but Gutierrez said the district hopes new revenue sources like the $1 million sale of Bonham Elementary will bring them closer to getting out of the red.

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