Mesquite Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Angel Rivera said the plan to reduce staff is something he takes personally.

"A lot of people assume just because I'm superintendent, I come from a well-off background," Rivera said. "Well, my parents never graduated high school, and some of the positions that you saw last night that I cut were the very positions that they would have worked in this organization. So I don't take it lightly."

Understanding the implications of challenging choices is why he said the district launched the campaign early to keep employees informed.

Mesquite ISD is facing the same problem many Texas school districts have grappled with this year: fewer students mean lower state funding. He said the schoolanomics formula of neighborhood families feeding their budget is evaporating. The system, he said, is down an estimated 4,000 students since 2017.

Rivera said the Board of Trustees cannot continue to adopt budgets that result in deficits. The lack of student population has them looking at next year's budget, where they face a $24 million funding gap.

The district decided staff reduction was its path forward, trimming positions at the central office, lunchroom monitors, assistant High school principals, campus clerical positions, and teachers. MISD said more than 80 percent of its budget went to 5,797 employees, even though the system's total student count was 36,650.

CBS NEWS TEXAS: Tell me why personnel over consolidation?

RIVERA:  Well, if you look at our district statistics in terms of enrollment since 2017, and you fast forward to today, we've had over 4,000 drop in enrollment, but our staff has increased. We felt that we needed to take a look at our staff counts, what is more efficient to run the school district, provide opportunities for students, grade the educational experience, especially with the funding formulas the way they are, to ensure that we're maximizing taxpayer dollars.

CBS NEWS TEXAS:  If demographers come to you annually, then how did you all get to this point?

RIVERA: I don't know if you're aware, the competition that exists now for students. Public schools are not the only show in town anymore. We have charter schools, private schools, and this year, we get the privilege of seeing what the educational savings account will do to public schools in Texas. And, there are micro schools, home schools. Alpha school is now getting to be very big in the state and nationally. There's a lot of competition out there for parents to make a decision about where they want to put their children. Back in the day, it was your local school. Now, there are options.

CBS NEWS TEXAS: What would you tell the teachers who are losing those jobs, who are waiting for the possibility to get a job on someone retiring?

RIVERA: I will tell them that this topic can elevate the level of anxiety of anyone. It has done that to me because it has not been an easy topic for me to discuss. But the one thing that I can tell them is that,  think about how early we started in this process. We started early in this process to take care of the people.

And in Mesquite, we call them our Mesquite family. We could have done like any other district and announced through an email in April and May, your position is no longer available for the district. Good luck on your future endeavors. We cannot control the funding formulas in the state of Texas.

We cannot control our enrollment for that fact. We cannot control what parents do each and every day. But we can control how we react to those things and how we lead, and that's what we're doing in Mesquite ISD. We're trying to take care of them.

CBS NEWS TEXAS: I can see that this is personal to you

RIVERA: I mean, it's personal for me. A lot of people assume just because I'm superintendent, I come from a well-off background.  Well, my parents never graduated high school, and some of the positions that you saw last night that I cut were the very positions that they would have had (25:50) if they would have worked in this organization. So I don't take it lightly. I understand the implications.

CBS NEWS TEXAS: What needs to happen with the public school system? Do you need to change your model?

RIVERA: Wow. That is a question that I've been tackling for years. And, absolutely, we do. We need to be more innovative. We need to explore options that we have never explored.

We have a couple things that we're looking at as this organization to look at in the near future. But, the one thing that needs to change, to be quite honest, is the Carnegie units. This block of time, these minutes of instruction that damper a little bit the innovation that can occur in a public school.

What the normal person doesn't understand is that public schools don't mind competing at all if we were all playing the same game. But when some people are playing chess and other people are playing checkers, the rules are completely different. And you've got to be more strategic about what you do.

If you take out the obstacles, the impediments, and the restrictions on minutes, I think public schools will be able to compete a lot more.  Because we offer things that they cannot offer.

Superintendent does not expect further cuts

The 53-year-old husband and father of five said he does not expect further staff reductions based on a three-five year plan the district has in place. Those impacted by these staffing cuts will be notified by February 13th. Some of the positions will be consolidated.

All term-contract employees in good standing who wish to return to Mesquite ISD in 2026-27 will have positions. The district will need to identify 280 plus vacant teaching positions for those on the "must place list."

Mesquite ISD reductions by the number:

• 284 professional positions
• 52 professional support positions
• 232 teaching positions are being eliminated for 2026-27
• 622 teachers' probationary contracts are not guaranteed contracts to return in 2026-27
• 230 non-certified teachers who are not guaranteed contracts for 2026-27
•     *A reduction of 8.4% from the current teaching staff (2,760)
• 76 classroom aides, including 34 kindergarten aides and 42 elementary bilingual aides.
• 15 central office or district-level support positions (2026-2027)
• 13 central office or district-level jobs (2025-2026)
• 76 classroom aides, including 34 kindergarten aides and 42 elementary bilingual aides.
• 14.5 campus clerical positions will be eliminated.