EPISD board votes 4-3 to close 8 elementary schools

Eight El Paso Independent School District elementary schools will be closed starting next school year after the board voted Tuesday in favor of the closures.

Carlos Rivera, Lamar, Newman, Putnam, Rusk and Zavala elementary schools will close next school year, with Stanton and Travis elementary schools closing in the 2026-27 school year, according to the approved plan.

The 4-3 vote sparked outrage from the crowd of parents, teachers and others who had largely spoken out against the closings. They started shouting “Shame on you, shame on you” after the vote.

Trustees Israel Irrobali, Daniel Call, Isabel Hernandez and Valerie Ganelon Beals voted in favor of the closures, with Leah Hanany, Jack Loveridge and Alex Cuellar voting against.

The latest proposal called for Carlos Rivera, Lamar, Newman, Putnam, Rusk and Zavala to shut down next school year; and Stanton and Travis elementaries to close by the 2026-27 school year.

“This plan presents recommendations to avoid actions that will negatively impact students, such as increasing class sizes, laying off teachers, or reducing instructional programs essential to a well-rounded education,” Superintendent Diana Sayavedra said during the meeting before the vote. “This work is not easy, but I am confident that the decisions made today will create a path forward for our school district.”

Sayavedra said canceling school closings could lead to layoffs to address a budget shortfall.

“If we’re not able to realize our reductions at that point, then the next big ticket item, and the biggest cost to us as a school district, is in employees. So we would have to seriously consider whether we would have to put forward a proposal to the board for a reduction in force, Sayavedra said.

Throughout the meeting, parents, students, teachers and community organizers spoke out against the plan and pleaded with EPISD to postpone school closings or find an alternative.

“I’m not opposed to school closings, I understand it’s necessary and a difficult decision,” said EPISD employee Ann Gallardo. “Regardless of the reason, I feel the swift action taken in less than a month to close so many schools at once is reckless and will create more chaos in the community for the good it will do.”

EPISD fourth grader Agustin Yañez also took his turn at the microphone during the meeting.

“I don’t like that you want to close my friends’ schools,” Yañez said. “My friend Valeria won’t be able to go to school. Her grandmother is picking her up and she won’t have that time with her grandmother anymore. Why can’t you just fix my friend’s school?”

Some speakers supported the closings and urged the school board to approve the plan to address budget concerns.

“Credit cannot support underutilized schools or necessary correctional costs for those schools. It puts significant pressure on the district’s budget as operating costs such as personnel, supplies and maintenance remain high regardless of low. This vote tonight proves whether these trustees are good stewards of our tax dollars, said parent Kendal Jessup.

The closings are part of what EPISD calls the Destination District Redesign, which aims to address declining enrollment, declining birth rates and projected budget shortfalls. The plan will also make facility and program improvements at campuses that remain open.

EPISD originally proposed closing 10 campuses next school year, including Hillside and Park elementary. But the district announced Monday that the two schools had been removed from the list of proposed closures, which would now be divided into two phases.

The district plans to keep Hillside Elementary open until it finishes rebuilding Bliss Elementary and creates more space at Hartley Elementary.

Students from affected schools will be able to transfer to a recommended “sister school” or any other school in the district.

EPISD plans to create up to 40 new bus routes, establish new pickup and drop-off locations and change its bus policy to ensure students can get to their new campuses.

Currently, district buses only transport students who live two miles or more from their designated campus.

Under the new plan, EPISD will divide the district into four transportation zones — West, Northeast, East Central and South Central. Students will be able to take the bus to any school within their zone.

About 270 staff working at affected campuses will be relocated to a new school. So far, EPISD has found about 240 vacancies for these employees to fill, 110 of which are for teachers. The remaining employees will be assigned positions as vacancies arise.

The vote comes after weeks of pushback from parents and community organizations, which urged EPISD to delay school closings until it completes an ongoing equity audit and comes up with an alternative plan.

In the days leading up to the decision, elected officials, including US Rep. Veronica Escobar, the district to postpone the vote.

“The district announced the list of schools to be closed on October 17th and my office received over 1,200 emails and messages from constituents whose concerns deserve more time to be addressed,” Escobar stated in a Facebook post published Monday night.

“While I understand that EPISD must make difficult decisions related to its budget, it is clear that one month has not been enough time for the board to hear from the community.”

Some local officials, including Cuellar, urged Irrobali to recuse himself from the vote, arguing that his position as executive director of the El Paso Association of Contactors was a conflict of interest. This likely would have left the vote tied at 3-3, ending the school closure.

Irrobali refused to resign, citing legal opinions from several attorneys who said it was not a conflict of interest because EPAC does not receive money directly from the district.

The plan also created conflict between two of El Paso’s largest teacher unions, with opposing views on the closings.

El Paso Teachers Association President Normal De la Rosa had been critical of EPISD’s proposal since Sayavedra announced plans to close schools in May.

The organization joined the Save Our Schools Coalition, which aims to delay school closings until the stock review is completed.

El Paso Federation of Teachers President Ross Moore has said the closings are necessary to ensure teachers will be able to keep their jobs amid a budget deficit.

EPISD approved a $542 million budget with an $18.5 million deficit in June to operate its 75 schools, including 48 elementary schools.

Without any changes, EPISD officials said the deficit would increase to $32 million in the 2025-26 school year, $39 million the following year and $45 million in the 2027-28 school year — assuming the state does not increase school funding.

With the closings, EPISD still expects to have a deficit of $16.7 million next year, $17.7 million the following year and $23.7 million in the 2027-28 school year.

The district expects to lose 8,000 students from all grade levels over the next 10 years.

EPISD’s enrollment is already down 20% since the 2013-14 school year. The district says it has lost 13,000 students since 2015 and estimates it missed out on about $90 million in potential revenue over those years.