District overview
Rio Grande City Grulla Independent School District
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
How Rio Grande City Grulla ISD is paid for and who decides
Rio Grande City Grulla ISD runs 15 public schools in Starr County, Texas: 10 elementary schools, three middle schools and three high schools, one of them an early college high school. About 88 cents of each general-fund dollar comes from the state. The state pays mostly based on average daily attendance, so the 10% drop in enrollment since 2020 means less money. Local property taxes pay a small share; most homesteads owe little or nothing after the $140,000 homestead exemption. Voters rejected a tax increase in November 2025. Since then the district has cut costs mostly by leaving jobs empty, and it still plans a deficit of about $5M for 2026-27. A seven-member elected Board of Trustees sets the budget and tax rate and hires the superintendent, Guadalupe Garza. Trustees are elected at large by numbered place to four-year terms.
Mostly state money
The proposed 2026-27 general fund counted about $98.3M from the state, $12.2M from local sources and $0.9M federal, out of about $111.5M.
Attendance drives funding
Enrollment fell from 10,194 in 2020 to about 9,164 in 2025-26, and the budget assumes about 8,300 in average daily attendance.
Spending above income
The 2026-27 budget plans about $117.0M in general-fund spending, a deficit of about $5M paid from savings of about $34.9M.
Elected board of seven
Trustees are elected at large by numbered place; Places 3, 6 and 7 are on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Dr. Veronica Barrera is board president.
The deficit has been shrinking: the district projected an $18M gap in late 2024, and it reported a small preliminary surplus of about $1.35M for 2025-26. TEA closed its review of the 2025 layoffs with no district violation found.
Where the district stands
Captioned as 117,22,252; read as $117,022,252. Revenue about $111,452,169.
Calculation: about $117.0M / about 9,164 students. Context only; it covers the general fund, not federal grants, food service or debt.
Major projects
Fort Ringgold auditorium and gym wrestling center
design; biddingThe district is renovating the Fort Ringgold auditorium (about 1,012 seats, with accessibility fixes) and adding a wrestling center in the Ramiro Barrera gym, paid with 15-year maintenance tax notes.
- Engineering approved
- $8.13M tax notes approved
- Renderings shown; first payment approved
Funding
$8.13M maintenance tax notes, Series 2026 (not voter-approved)
Finishing 2021 bond projects
under wayUnfinished 2021 bond money was redirected to finish Grulla Middle School (including a full kitchen) and pay for buses, pavilions, intercoms and playgrounds.
- Playgrounds for every elementary ($626,829)
- Grulla MS kitchen, pavilions and 15 of 20 new buses reported
- Final Grulla MS kitchen payment held until exhaust work passes
Funding
Repurposed 2021 $72M bond funds
State-required discipline corrective plans
under wayTEA required corrective plans for discipline reporting and expulsions and for high suspension rates among special education students.
- Discipline reporting plan approved
- Special education discipline plan approved
Funding
District general fund
Selling unused district land
in progressThe district sold land on US Hwy 83 for $1.4M after paying $1.75M, and began the process to sell about 100 acres north of La Union Elementary.
- Appraisal and realtor search approved
- Sale for $1.4M approved; large-tract process started
Funding
Sale proceeds
Recent news
School board meeting recordings from the district's YouTube channel (November 5, 2025 through October 13, 2026), read through their auto-generated captions, plus the November 2026 trustee election order and notice posted by Starr County.
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