Tioga ISD Lays Off Teachers, Employees Due to Financial Problems – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Days before Christmas,  Jessica How, and parents across the Tioga Independent School District had to deliver difficult news to their kids.

“I had to come home get eye level with him and say hey buddy your teacher is not going to be coming back,” said How, a parent of two elementary-aged students in the district.

At a time when schools everywhere are desperately trying to find teachers any way they can,  Tioga is sending some of their educators packing, because they simply don’t have the money to pay them.

“It was building a high school, and building a big football program and thinking more housing that was coming in, and they would be able to raise the tax rate and those things not coming through,” said How, who has attended board meetings closely since the financial problems came to light.

The school district received an F grade on their state report card for their ability to manage their finances. They failed last year too.   

The superintendent retired, they moved to a four-day schedule, and still, the only way they can pay the bills was to lay off about 20 employees and cut the salary of the acting superintendent who promised they’ll do better.

“It starts tonight, and if I get one message across it’s that we’re not putting a dollar figure on our employees,” said Josh Ballinger, Interim Superintendent. 

The employees caught in the middle of this, likely will find work in neighboring districts, where teachers are in demand. Still, many…