EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Paso Independent School District is considering cutting over 400 jobs. The measure will be discussed in an upcoming school board meeting. That is after Superintendent Dr. Brian Lusk is recommending the board declare financial exigency and implement a savings plan.

According to the Texas Education Agency, financial exigency means “that the financial resources of a school district are insufficient to support its instructional programs or it is unable to finance the full compensation of staff for the current or next fiscal year.”

This comes after the district faced a $52.8 million budget deficit, higher than what EPISD initially projected.

EPISD reviewing projected $52.8M budget deficit; consultant recommends ‘financial exigency’

The agenda will be brought to the board on Tuesday, June 2. During the meeting, the school board will face a decision to cut 250 campus-level positions and 160 central office jobs.

According to the agenda item, EPISD officials estimate that cutting over 400 jobs will save the district $28 million in savings a year. If approved, the board will approve cutting nine percent of the district’s workforce, which consists of 4,700 total employees.

Earlier this month, Lusk joined KTSM 9 News Anchor Andy Morgan for a one-on-one interview, discussing EPISD’s budget shortfall. In the interview, Lusk said the district would not be cutting positions.

“I want to say that we will not cut positions,” said Lusk. “If there are vacant positions and it makes sense from a central perspective, we will cut vacant positions. People will not lose their jobs. I want to be clear about that,” he said on May 1.

EPISD superintendent committed to balanced budget without affecting classroom

“The reason for the financial exigency declaration is due to a decrease of more than 20 percent in unassigned General Fund balance per student in weighted average daily attendance over the past two years or a projected reduction of 20 percent compared to the current year,” read part of the agenda item.

Back in April, EPISD approved a $3,000 buyout incentive for senior Central Office staff, aimed at cutting costs.

EPISD approves $3K buyout for upper-level administrators amid looming budget shortfall

The agenda item highlighted that the district plans to adjust and find ways to save money through the following initiatives:

Contracted services and software review

Personnel reductions and staffing adjustments

Department operating budget reductions

Health savings account (HSA) contribution adjustment

PEIMS student coding review

Average Daily Attendance (ADA) initiatives

District property and auction sales

One of the items, the HSA contribution adjustment, read that the district will reduce the employer contribution in the high deductible plan, from $1,000 to $500, projected to save EPISD roughly $1.3 million in savings.

It was noted in the agenda that these figures are preliminary and are subject to change as Human Resources continues “staffing placements and operational budgets remain under review and evaluation throughout the budget development process.”

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