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El Paso ISD to close 8 elementary schools amid enrollment declines [1]
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Date: 2024-11-19
Eight El Paso Independent School District elementary schools will be shut down starting next school year after the Board of Trustees on Tuesday voted in favor of the closures.
Carlos Rivera, Lamar, Newman, Putnam, Rusk, and Zavala elementaries will close their doors next school year, with Stanton and Travis elementaries closing in the 2026-27 school year under the approved plan.
The 4-3 vote sparked outrage from the crowd of parents, teachers and others who had largely spoken against the closures. They began shouting “Shame on you, shame on you” after the vote.
Members of the Save Our Schools Coalition protested plans to close several elementary schools during a school board meeting for El Paso Independent School District on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. (Claudia Lorena Silva/El Paso Matters)
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 elementaries 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 measures that would negatively impact students, such as increasing class sizes, laying off teachers or reducing instructional programs that are vital to a well-rounded education,” Superintendent Diana Sayavedra said during the meeting before the vote. “This work is not easy, but I’m confident that the decisions that are made today will create a path forward for our school district.”
Sayavedra said forgoing school closures 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 largest cost for us as a school district, is in employees. So we would seriously have to consider whether we would need to bring the board a proposition 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 delay school closures or find an alternative.
“I am not in opposition to school closures, I understand that it is necessary and a difficult decision,” EPISD employee Ann Gallardo said. “Regardless of the reason, the swift actions that were taken in less than a month to close so many schools at one time, I feel is reckless and will create more havoc on 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 the schools of my friends,” Yañez said. “My friend Valeria will not be able to walk to school. Her grandma picks her up and she won’t have that time with her grandma anymore. Why can’t you just fix my friend’s school?”
Dozens of El Paso Independent School District residents attended a school board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19, that focused on a plan to close several elementary schools. (Robert Moore/El Paso Matters)
Some speakers supported the closures and called on the school board to approve the plan to address budgetary concerns.
“The district cannot support underutilized schools or necessary correction costs to these schools. It creates significant strain on the district’s budget, as operational costs, such as staffing, utilities and maintenance remain high regardless of low enrollment. This vote tonight proves whether or not these trustees are good stewards of our tax dollars,” parent Kendal Jessup said.
The closures are part of what EPISD calls Destination District Redesign, which aims to address declining enrollment, falling birth rates and projected budget deficits. The plan would also make facility and program improvements to campuses that remain open.
EPISD initially proposed closing 10 campuses next school year, including Hillside and Park elementaries. But the district on Monday announced that the two schools had been removed from the list of proposed closures, which would now be split into two phases.
The district plans to keep Hillside Elementary open until it finishes rebuilding Bliss Elementary and creates more space at Hartley Elementary.
Yolanda Chávez Leyva, a UTEP history professor, told the El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees about the important role Zavala Elementary School has played for the neighborhood it serves. She spoke at a board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19, where the district administration recommended closing Zavala. (Robert Moore/El Paso Matters)
Students from affected schools will be able to transfer to a recommended “sister school,” or any other school within the district.
EPISD plans to create up to 40 new bus routes, establish new pick-up and drop-off points, and change its bussing policy to ensure students can get 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.
About 270 employees working in affected campuses will be reassigned to a new school. So far EPISD has found about 240 vacancies for those 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 backlash from parents and community organizations, who urged EPISD to delay school closures 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 U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, called for the district to delay the vote.
“The district announced the list of schools slated to be closed on Oct. 17, 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 evening.
“While I understand that EPISD must make difficult decisions related to its budget, it’s clear that one month has not been enough time for the board to hear out the community.”
Some local officials, including Cuellar, called for Irrobali to recuse himself from voting, arguing his position as executive director of the El Paso Association of Contactors was a conflict of interest. This would have likely left the vote at a 3-3 tie, halting the school closure process.
Irrobali refused to recuse himself, citing legal opinions from multiple attorneys that stated it was not a conflict of interest because EPAC doesn’t receive money directly from the district.
Members of the Save Our Schools Coalition held up signs protest El Paso Independent School District school board President Israel Irrobali during a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, that discussed school closures. (Claudia Lorena Silva/El Paso Matters)
The plan also created conflict between two of El Paso’s largest teacher unions with opposing views on the closures.
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 closures until the equity audit is completed.
El Paso Federation of Teachers President Ross Moore has said the closures are necessary to ensure teachers will be able to keep their jobs amid a budget deficit.
El Paso Independent School District trustees listened as Ross Moore, president of the El Paso Federation of Teachers, spoke in favor of a school closing plan on Tuesday, Nov. 19. (Robert Moore/El Paso Matters)
EPISD approved a $542 million budget with a $18.5 million deficit in June to operate its 75 schools, including 48 elementaries.
Without any changes, EPISD officials said the deficit would rise to $32 million by the 2025-26 school year, $39 million the following year and $45 million by the 2027-28 school year — assuming the state doesn’t increase school funding.
With the closures, 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 has already declined by 20% since the 2013-14 school year. The district says it lost 13,000 students since 2015 and estimates it missed out on about $90 million in potential revenue over those years.
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https://elpasomatters.org/2024/11/19/episd-school-closures-vote/
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