El Paso school district votes to close eight elementary schools

On November 20, 2024By Littum

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — El Paso Independent School District narrowly approves plan to close eight elementary schools Tuesday evening.

During an EPISD Board of Trustees meeting, Trustees voted four to three to move forward with the district’s plan to close schools to deal with budget issues.

The plan was approved despite public opposition.

Many parents and community members had their say ahead of the vote:

When you close the school, you will affect the community around it.

We are thinking about ways to save our schools and underserved communities where the most harm will be done to these students and these families.

We only ask that you give us more time to listen to us so that we can share our ideas before you close these schools.

Trustees who voted against school closings:

Alex Cuellar
Dr. Jack Loveridge
Leah Hanany

Trustees who voted for:

Daniel E. Ring
Isabel Hernandez
Board Director Valerie Ganelon Beals
President Israel Irrobali (with the tied vote)

The news arouses anger among the community:

RELATED:El Paso school district revises closure plan, pulls two schools from list

How did we get here?

On October 17, during their monthly board meeting, EPISD announced a recommendation to close 10 elementary schools to combat a future budget shortfall.

But on Monday, EPISD announced it was updating its Destination District Redesign Proposal (DDR), citing that without “decisive action,” the district faces a projected $32.2 million deficit for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which could lead to drastic cost savings. measures that may affect students, staff and the El Paso community.

EPISD said that after receiving community feedback, the district revised its school closing recommendations and took Hillside and Park off the chopping block.

With these two off the list of 10, the remaining eight will be shut down in two phases.

Phase I (2025-2026):

Carlos Rivera
Lamar
Newman
Putnam
Debris
Zavala

Phase II (2026-2027):

In a written statement, EPISD listed what it called the “severe consequences of inaction,” which is the negative impact the district could face if it doesn’t follow the school closure plan.

They are:

Workforce reductions: Teaching and staff positions may be eliminated, affecting student-teacher ratios and the quality of classroom instruction.
Program Cuts: Programs such as P-tech, IB, various course offerings, extracurricular activities, arts, athletics, and academic enrichment may face reductions or elimination, limiting opportunities for student growth and development.
Classroom impact: Increase class size at the secondary level and explore the implementation of multi-age classrooms in under-enrolled elementary schools.
Long-term financial instability: The revenue shortfall continues to increase for fiscal years FY2027 and FY2028 to $39 million and $45 million, respectively.

On the other hand, EPISD laid out what it believes is “a path forward to stability,” listing ways the school closings will allow the district to redirect resources to improve classroom instruction, preserve academic programs and achieve long-term financial stability.

Overall, EPISD believes the district will reduce its projected budget deficit by 65.8 percent ($15.5 million in FY2026 and $5.7 million for FY2027).

RELATED: EPISD faces community backlash as Zavala Elementary among schools at risk of closure