(C) El Paso Matters.org
This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



EPISD changes school closure proposal ahead of Tuesday vote [1]

['Claudia Lorena Silva', 'More Claudia Lorena Silva', 'El Paso Matters', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width']

Date: 2024-11-18

The El Paso Independent School District updated its school closures proposal just days before the Board of Trustees votes on whether to shut down nearly a fifth of its elementary schools.

Administrators initially recommended closing 10 of the district’s 48 elementary schools, but the Tuesday board meeting agenda posted Saturday indicates that Hillside Elementary may be spared from shutting down – for now. The district plans to keep the school open until it finishes rebuilding Bliss Elementary using U.S. Department of Defense funds and creates more space at Hartley Elementary. The district also hopes to use DoD funds to rebuild Milam Elementary in the future.

The updated proposal that the board will vote on Tuesday suggests closing schools in two phases.

If approved, the first phase would shut down Carlos Rivera, Lamar, Newman, Putnam, Rusk, and Zavala elementaries the coming school year, while the second phase would close Stanton and Travis elementaries in the 2026-27 school year.

Travis Elementary School, a Chapin High School feeder in Northeast El Paso, was rated as “Poor Low” in El Paso ISD’s Facility Condition Study. The study is part of the “Destination District Redesign Project,” which will determine whether campuses should be renovated or closed. (Luis Torres/El Paso Matters)

Park Elementary earlier was proposed to be relocated to Canyon Hills Middle School during the second round of closures, but the district said in a press release Monday that it no longer planned to close or relocate Park.

During a Monday press conference outside Burleson Elementary, which closed in 2019, trustees Leah Hanany, Jack Loveridge and Alex Cuellar said the new proposal has not swayed their opinions opposing school closures.

“The initial process was so flawed in the beginning that to have anything come out afterward just kind of seems like a remedial measure, almost like an afterthought,” Cuellar said.

The three trustees gathered with other elected officials to call for EPISD to postpone the school closure process until after it completes an equity audit and proposes an alternative to “mass school closures.” Some of those alternatives include waiting to see if the state will increase school funding during the coming legislative session and waiting until after a bond election.

The process, which EPISD calls Destination District Redesign, aims to address declining enrollment and funding shortages while improving schools that remain open.

EPISD says it has lost 13,000 students since 2015 and estimates it missed out on about $90 million in potential revenue over those years. Davis Demographics, an educational demography firm contracted by EPISD, projects the district will lose 8,000 students from all grade levels over the next 10 years.

EPISD approved a $542 million budget with a $18.5 million deficit in June to operate its 75 schools, including 48 elementaries, in the current school year.

The district initially said the closures would save the district $28 million, but did not provide a breakdown of those savings.

Students attending schools set to close will be moved to a nearby campus, and employees will also be reassigned to other schools.

EPISD has faced backlash from parents and community members who are calling for the district to delay any closures until it completes an ongoing equity audit.

Some were concerned that the closures would affect low-income and working class families in poorer neighborhoods. Others argued that EPISD did not provide enough details on the process and proposed savings.

An employee cleans classrooms and hallways at Newman Elementary School on Oct. 23, 2024. Newman is one of the schools that EPISD administrators recommended for closure. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

“We understand the profound impact these discussions have on our families, staff, and students. However, the consequences of inaction would harm every student, teacher, and family in our district. These decisions are difficult but essential to protect the future of public education in El Paso,” Superintendent Diana Sayavedra said in Monday’s news release.

The new proposal published on the district’s website Saturday provided new information on how school closures would affect the district’s budget, how it plans to relocate students to new schools and what will happen to affected employees.

Here is what we know:

Will EPISD students be bused to other schools if their campus closes?

EPISD plans to update its bus routes to ensure all the students affected by closures will have transportation to their new campuses.

Currently, the district buses only transport students living 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.

To do this, the district plans to create 34 to 40 new bus routes, costing about $300,000 a year to fund fuel expenses. The district won’t need to purchase new buses or hire additional drivers. It will also establish pick-up and drop-off points throughout the district to accommodate the new routes.

Will EPISD employees be laid off if schools close?

During the first round of closures, EPISD expects to reassign just under 270 employees, including teachers, custodians and clerical staff.

The El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees heard from members of the public Thursday, Oct. 17, expressing their views on a plan to close some of the district’s elementary schools. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

So far, the district has found about 240 vacancies that these employees could fill, 110 of which are for teachers.

The remaining 32 employees will be moved as vacancies arise, the proposal states.

EPISD has an attrition rate that normally sits between 10% to 12%, and has an average of 870 resignations a year, according to the proposal.

In December, EPISD plans to review preliminary campus staffing allotment data for the coming school year and begin meetings with sister school administrators and employees from closed schools.

In January, the district plans to hold job fairs for employees from closed schools and begin announcing placements for the coming school year.

By March, EPISD plans to finalize placements and ensure every employee from a closed school is placed in a role for the next school year. Employees without permanent placement will be assigned to a designated campus as additional support until a permanent position is available.

How much will EPISD school closures save the district?

By closing some campuses, EPISD hopes to save money on utilities, maintenance and other operational costs associated with running a school.

It now costs EPISD an average of $11,260 per student to operate the first six campuses recommended for closure and their sister schools. The first round of closures would reduce that cost to about $7,480 per student during the coming school year.

If it doesn’t close any schools, EPISD projects it would have a $32 million deficit next school year. That deficit is expected to grow to $39 million the 2026-27 school year and to $45 million for the 2027-28 school year — assuming the state doesn’t increase school funding.

If it closes the proposed seven elementaries in the first round, the projected deficit for the next school year would be $16.7 million, according to the proposal. After that, the estimated deficit would be $17.7 million in the 2026-27 school year and $23.7 million in the 2027-28 school year.

Even if the district closes schools, it still expects the deficit to rise in the following years as enrollment continues to decline and it gets less revenue from state funding, EPISD Chief Communications Officer Liza Rodriguez said.

What kind of upgrades would the receiving schools get?

EPISD plans to make upgrades to the schools that will take in students from the closed campuses.

The district plans to allocate $4 million from the remaining 2016 bond funds to pay for facility upgrades and $2.5 million from the general fund for academic programs.

Historic Crockett Elementary School in central El Paso is over 100 years old. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

The schools that will get upgrades include:

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2024/11/18/episd-updated-school-closure-proposal-district-redesign/

Published and (C) by El Paso Matters.org
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/elpasomatters/

You are viewing proxied material from magical.fish. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.