Brian Lusk was formally named El Paso Independent School District’s new superintendent Tuesday, vowing to make student success his focus.
“I think there’s been a really strong focus in this particular school district, El Paso ISD, around quality of instruction, and to me, we’re on the right path, because that’s really the key to academic success,” Lusk said in an interview with El Paso Matters. “So, as we think about outcomes, we have to be laser like in our focus around instructional quality, supporting principals, supporting teachers, and making sure that our singular focus is around student academic outcomes with good instruction making that happen.”
The EPISD school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to make Lusk the leader of the 47,000-student district, the largest in El Paso County. He and his wife, Beverly Lusk, were serenaded by EPISD student mariachis and folklorico dancers after his appointment was approved.
District officials said the contract terms would be made public later Tuesday, after the contract was signed. His first day on the job is Wednesday, school board President Leah Hanany said.
Brian Lusk, the incoming superintendent for El Paso ISD, shakes hands with principals from the district before signing his contract, Dec. 9, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)
Former Superintendent Diana Sayavedra was paid $320,000 a year when she resigned earlier this year. Ysleta Independent School District Superintendent Xavier De La Torre, who is among the highest-paid superintendents in the state, makes over $450,000 annually. James Vasquez, who was hired as Socorro Independent School District superintendent this year, makes $285,000 annually.
The board voted in mid-November to select Lusk as the sole EPISD superintendent finalist. State law requires school districts to wait at least 21 days before completing the hiring of a finalist for superintendent.
Most recently, Lusk served as the deputy superintendent of academics and transformation of the Dallas Independent School District.
Lusk said the district owes it to students to help them identify the best path for them, and then help them succeed.
“And, so, whether a student says, ‘You know what, I want to go to a CTE program and study X,’ or ‘I want to go into an early college program,’ or ‘I want to go into Advanced Placement,’ or ‘I want to do a few of those,’ it is our job and obligation to make sure students understand their path and to help them get towards that path to prosperity so that they can realize their dreams,” he said.
Lusk is taking leadership of a district that has seen some academic gains in recent years, but which still lags behind the neighboring Ysleta and Socorro school districts on many student performance measures.
EPISD – like many urban districts across the country – is facing declining enrollment.
The number of students attending EPISD schools has dropped by 13,000 – or 22% – in the last decade, and that trend likely will accelerate in coming years because of rapid declines in El Paso’s birth rates. School closures over the past 10 years have largely been concentrated in elementary schools, but growing declines in middle school and high school enrollments likely will require closures in those areas.
A divided school board last year approved Sayavedra’s plan to shutter eight elementary schools over two years. Following school board elections this spring, a new board majority agreed to keep open Lamar Elementary School, one of the schools targeted for closing.
Lusk acknowledged that falling enrollment – which reduces state funding to schools – forces school districts to make difficult choices.
“I mean, if you look at any district across the state, it’s been a challenge. And it’s not an excuse, it’s a challenge,” he told El Paso Matters.
“And with that, I think we have to then look at, of the work we’re doing, what return on investment are we getting? Where’s the best investment of our dollars to make sure that our kids and our families are getting what they expect?”
He said he would work with the school board, teachers and parents when deciding on future school closures or other investment decisions.
Board members who voted against Sayavedra’s closing plan said it unfairly focused on schools in low-income areas, though the board majority at the time disagreed and the plan was approved 4-3.
Brian Lusk, the new superintendent for El Paso ISD, speaks about his background and his plans for El Paso, Dec. 9, 2025. (Luis Torres/El Paso Matters)
Lusk said equity concerns have to play a role in all education decisions.
“I think we all recognize that some students come to school with greater challenges, right?” he told El Paso Matters. “It doesn’t mean they can do less, and to be clear, it doesn’t lessen expectations, but sometimes they have bigger barriers to get through. And sometimes we have to allocate resources to meet the needs of our students, and sometimes it does require us giving more resources to schools or students or school communities so that they can equalize the opportunity.”
Because of aging infrastructure on many of its campuses, and the likelihood of closing or consolidating schools in the wake of declining attendance, EPISD officials have said for several years that they’ll need to ask voters to approve a bond issue worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
EPISD voters last approved a bond issue in 2016. Lusk said the district needs infrastructure investment, but it has to build a case for voter approval.
“But that’s going to take some time to really lay out and think about the framing of that, because it’s not a light conversation. It’s a consideration that’s going to take a lot of planning and conversation and collaboration with many, many stakeholders,” he said.
When asked by El Paso Matters to share something about himself that people may not know, Lusk pointed to his soccer experience.
“I played soccer from age 5 to age 21. I played through college. And I was telling a few folks recently that that shaped me, having those experiences. We know that’s why sports matters. Sports matter in middle school and high school. And extracurricular opportunities matter. But soccer shaped me, and it helped give me leadership experiences that would not have had otherwise.”
And like many fútbol fans, his eyes are on the 2026 men’s World Cup, hosted jointly by the United States, Mexico and Canada. It is the first time the tournament has been played in the United States since 1994.
“I went to five World Cup games back in ’94, so that was amazing. If I can go to one game now, I’d be good,” he said.
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