The EPISD board on Tuesday morning will consider whether to take the extreme measure of essentially declaring bankruptcy, admitting it does not have the funds to support instruction or fully pay its staff.<\/p>\n
If the district cannot rein in its spending, or if the board decides against financial exigency, EPISD is on track to have a $42 million budget shortfall for the upcoming 2026-27 school year. That\u2019s on top of $52 million overspent on the 2025-26 budget, including $20 million in payroll overruns.<\/p>\n
Financial exigency will allow EPISD to break contracts as it looks to cut hundreds of jobs, including campus-level positions. The declaration to the Texas Education Agency is used in major financial crises, such as at least a 10% decline in enrollment over five years, natural disasters and projected reductions of more than 20% to a district\u2019s fund balance.<\/p>\n
As students in EPISD prepare for the last day of school, and seniors get ready to graduate, many of their teachers have diminished job security, and campuses are left wondering what\u2019s to come in the fall.<\/p>\n
For Lusk, who sat down with El Paso Inc. on Thursday morning, EPISD needs to get its budget under control so it can set students up to be successful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m worried about balancing a budget so we can move forward and get past these difficult times and we can get back to focusing on making sure that everything we do for our students is effective and meaningful and puts them in a good position to be learners,\u201d Lusk said.<\/p>\n
EPISD hired Lusk in December of last year. He\u2019s the third superintendent in the last six years at EPISD and succeeded Diana Sayavedra, who stepped down in June of 2025.<\/p>\n
Lusk has spent 30-plus years in education, including as principal at all campus levels. EPISD is Lusk\u2019s first superintendent job, and he was most recently a deputy superintendent at Dallas Independent School District, the second-largest school district in Texas.<\/p>\n
In his first six months at EPISD, Lusk said he spent half that time learning more about needs and concerns and said he\u2019s looking forward to the future instead of focusing on the long, complicated history of missteps at EPISD.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ruben R.Ramirez<\/p>\n
Q: How did the El Paso job get on your radar?<\/p>\n
I knew a little bit about El Paso ISD from being part of the Texas Urban Council, which is a consortium of urban school districts. I did a little bit of homework and realized that the work that was happening here prior to my arrival aligned very well with the things I believed in and the work I\u2019d been part of. It felt like a natural fit for what I wanted to do. And I had a great job. I wasn\u2019t necessarily on the hunt. But this really aligned well with what I believe.<\/p>\n
Q: Did you hear from any previous superintendent to get an understanding of what was in that role and what was waiting for you here in El Paso?<\/p>\n
I was able to spend the first 90 days implementing a 90-day plan. I committed to the board that I would implement a 90-day plan, which essentially was look, listen and learn and understand how to build relationships. I did that with so many community members, internal stakeholders, teachers, principals, central office administrators and political figures across the city. Everybody\u2019s just been great about giving me perspective.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t like to look back a lot. When you ask about talking to other superintendents, it\u2019s important for me to make my own judgments and understandings from the people who are here now. History matters, but I wanted to learn through the people who are here in the city right now.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you talk to the business community and UTEP about what skills are needed for the job market in Paso?<\/p>\n
I do. I like to use the term \u201cpathways of prosperity.\u201d It starts in 7th and 8th grade as far as the sort of visioning and forecasting and understanding what\u2019s available. But if we get them on the path in 9th grade and keep them through, we\u2019re gonna get them on a pathway of prosperity.<\/p>\n
When they graduate, they have options. They can go to college and work because they have credentials, or they can go straight into the workforce because they\u2019ve earned credentials that are meaningful and aligned to a living wage, and the local market.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ruben R.Ramirez<\/p>\n
Q: There\u2019s a lot of technology in every classroom, in every district, including EPISD. In this new frontier of artificial intelligence, and AI cheating, how\u2019s the technology push going?<\/p>\n
There are varying opinions, and I think you\u2019re right. We\u2019re seeing the pendulum swing. We have school districts out west in California that are now putting time limits on the amount of technology. And I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a bad thing, to be honest with you. Things have to be done in moderation and for what makes sense.<\/p>\n
Instruction is always going to be best delivered by people. Our teachers are key to the work that we do. And technology will enhance the work that they do, but it doesn\u2019t drive the work that they do.<\/p>\n
Technology will have its place in the classroom, but I do think you\u2019re right. Post-COVID, it was still very pervasive, and understandably so, given the circumstances of COVID. We now understand that we\u2019ve got to moderate the amount of technology used in the classroom because ultimately our teachers are our best resource.<\/p>\n
Q: How does continually declining enrollment at EPISD, compounded by families moving out of the city and a rapidly dropping birth rate, affect what the district is trying to provide?<\/p>\n
The enrollment matters, and we won\u2019t compromise the quality of education. So when you think about enrollment, we are seeing declining enrollment year over year and we\u2019re even projecting next year to see some declining enrollment. While we know that\u2019s a problem, we are going to look for solutions.<\/p>\n
The best solution we can do is provide great instruction to our kids because parents want to know the product that they get for their children is the best thing they can get.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re really trying to make sure we prioritize the things that matter most. If you think about enrollment and you think about what parents want, parents want a great product. And if parents know their children are going to graduate with credentials and readiness to go into college and or their career, they\u2019re going to feel that El Paso ISD is a great place for their child.<\/p>\n
Q: What was your reaction when you found out about the financial state of the district and the lead-up to last week\u2019s meeting?<\/p>\n
The first question that we all ask, including many of our families, is how did this happen? We wanted to understand what the problems were, what the challenges were, what controls were not in place, what systems were not in place. It was bothersome. Sleepless nights for many and deservedly so, right?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re working on the problem. As we move forward, we\u2019re going to work towards balancing the budget. It\u2019ll come with difficult decisions. We know that. But our job is to make sure that we\u2019re stewards of our financial resources so that they\u2019re best aimed at ensuring that our kids get what they need.<\/p>\n
About 88% of our resources were tied up in personnel. On the upside, that\u2019s good because we know that personnel are the key to making sure our students get a good education. But typically school districts have about 80% of their financial resources tied up in personnel. So we were way over position control.<\/p>\n
Q: How do you address that?<\/p>\n
Deputy Superintendent David Bates is leading that work to a great degree, but I\u2019ve got my hands in it as well. I need to know exactly what\u2019s going on, to have decision making around how we do business. Ultimately, there were some ineffective practices that were in place. And it\u2019s not just this year. It\u2019s been for multiple years.<\/p>\n
One example is basically using a dollar amount; this year it was $20 million. We expected $20 million of lapsed salary to help us mitigate some of the expenditures that may cause us to go over budget. That\u2019s been in place for 10 years. It\u2019s not an effective strategy. It\u2019s not an effective practice that school districts typically use. That alone was problematic.<\/p>\n
Adding positions without going to the board, and then without also going to the board and bringing a budget payment to say we\u2019re adding these positions. You should take a budget amendment to the board for board approval, per policy. So there were some ineffective practices, and I also think actually having a handle on position control and understanding the full-time equivalents that we have as a district, I don\u2019t know that that was in place well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ruben R.Ramirez<\/p>\n
Q: For that information that wasn\u2019t provided, what does accountability look like?<\/p>\n
You have to work at solving the problem and also hold people accountable. I believe in accountability, unequivocally. I don\u2019t work towards trying to place blame. I want to really understand who is at fault and then hold them accountable. The CFO (Martha Aguirre) resigned, and I that\u2019s a signal. You can make your own judgments there.<\/p>\n
And I think there are people on the team who also knew and understood the state of where we are financially and should have been willing to come forward and say, look, we\u2019ve got a financial challenge. There will be accountability for this budget challenge. We will hold people accountable. We are going to reorganize the entire finance and business department. We\u2019ve got to do better.<\/p>\n
Q: Are you considering more school closures?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not talking about closing schools, so let me just say that up front. Declining enrollment is real. The birth rates are the lowest in El Paso than I think across the state. We know that\u2019s a challenge, and we\u2019re not talking about school closures.<\/p>\n
Right now, what we have to focus on is right-sizing. We have 88% of our budget on personnel. Unfortunately, that\u2019s going to be a hard shift for people because ultimately we have to make hard decisions.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve worked really hard to eliminate vacant positions. We\u2019ve eliminated almost 200 vacant positions since I\u2019ve been here. It\u2019s a lot of positions, and we still are well over budget as it relates to personnel.<\/p>\n
Q: Is the budget finalization process more difficult since you don\u2019t have a permanent CFO in place?<\/p>\n
Well, he (David Bates) was working like 12-hour days. Now he\u2019s working 16-hour days, so he\u2019s working a lot of hours. He\u2019s really smart. He\u2019s innovative. He\u2019s driven, and he\u2019s committed to our district.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t speak for him, I know it takes its toll, but he\u2019s going to work on it until we get it right. And I know as a team member he is committed to doing that. I don\u2019t ever worry about his level of commitment in terms of where we\u2019ll land. We will land in a good place.<\/p>\n
Q: What do you think would be the most dire consequence of not being able to rein in the budget and continuing on that path of a dwindling fund balance?<\/p>\n
We will rein in this budget. We will bring forward a balanced budget.<\/p>\n
Q: Given EPISD\u2019s history with state takeover, that\u2019s something that worries the community. Does that worry you?<\/p>\n
We actually have a pretty healthy fund balance even after this year. The challenge we faced was not knowing and not understanding where we stood because of the information that was withheld from us. If you look at our fund balance, even the projected one for the end of this year, 39 days essentially, it\u2019s actually a pretty good number.<\/p>\n
So I am not worried about, I think you mentioned state takeover. I\u2019m worried about balancing a budget so we can move forward and get past these difficult times, and we can get back to focusing on making sure that everything we do for our students is effective and meaningful and puts them in a good position to be learners.<\/p>\n
Q: How\u2019s it going for EPISD\u2019s efforts to sell surplus property and old, shuttered schools?<\/p>\n
As part of our long range facilities master plan that Mr. Bates has been leading as part of the possible bond conversation, that conversation has been had by our community members who are really leading the process. He\u2019s just facilitating. We\u2019ve sold some properties. We have three properties right now that are being looked at; people may purchase those. We have eight others that are available for consideration.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re also looking at a couple to repurpose. For example, to help really strengthen early childhood, we may look at one of our facilities for that. We\u2019re working on a plan because we know we\u2019ve heard from the community. We\u2019ve heard from many that our vacant facilities are problematic, not just aesthetically but also just from the opportunity for people to get into them, et cetera. So we\u2019re working strategically to solve it.<\/p>\n
Obviously, the money we get from those will be helpful, but we\u2019re not using those resources to balance the budget. Those resources would then probably go into a fund balance and help with our rainy day savings account again.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not going to be the reason why we are able to financially continue. We\u2019re going to continue because we need to balance a budget for the upcoming school year.<\/p>\n
EPISD proposes deep cuts<\/p>\n
The El Paso Independent School District is citing a 20% decline in its unassigned fund balance as the reason for seeking financial exigency. Here are the cost-cutting measures El Paso\u2019s oldest school district is looking to make.<\/p>\n
Layoffs<\/p>\n
EPISD is looking to cut 250 campus-level positions to save $17 million and 160 central office positions to save $11 million. Positions that could be cut include:<\/p>\n
Probationary contracts for year 1-3 employees in unassigned or temporary staff teacher positions, including in core subjects<\/p>\n
Planetarium facilitator<\/p>\n
Diagnosticians<\/p>\n
School psychologists<\/p>\n
High school graduation coaches<\/p>\n
High school testing coordinators<\/p>\n
Special education climate behavior specialists<\/p>\n
Early childhood learning facilitators<\/p>\n
Instructional coaches<\/p>\n
Campuses affected<\/p>\n
Potential cuts could affect teachers in year 1-3 probationary contracts at the following campuses:<\/p>\n
Andress High School<\/p>\n
Austin High School<\/p>\n
Barron Elementary School<\/p>\n
Bliss Elementary School<\/p>\n
Bobby Joe Hill PK-8<\/p>\n
Bowie High School<\/p>\n
Brown Middle School<\/p>\n
Burges High School<\/p>\n
Canyon Hills Middle School<\/p>\n
Chapin High School<\/p>\n
Clendenin Elementary School<\/p>\n
Coach Archie Duran Elementary<\/p>\n
Coach Wally Hartley PK-8<\/p>\n
Coldwell Elementary School<\/p>\n
Coronado High School<\/p>\n
Delta Academy<\/p>\n
Don Haskins PK-8<\/p>\n
Dr. Josefina V. Tinajero PK-8<\/p>\n
El Paso High School<\/p>\n
Franklin High School<\/p>\n
Guerrero Elementary School<\/p>\n
Hart Elementary School<\/p>\n
Hawkins Elementary School<\/p>\n
Herrera Elementary School<\/p>\n
Hillside Elementary School<\/p>\n
Hornedo Middle School<\/p>\n
Irvin High School<\/p>\n
Jefferson High School<\/p>\n
Lamar Elementary School<\/p>\n
Logan Elementary School<\/p>\n
Magoffin Middle School<\/p>\n
Milam Elementary School<\/p>\n
Moreno Montessori<\/p>\n
Moye Elementary School<\/p>\n
Park Elementary School<\/p>\n
Polk Elementary School<\/p>\n
Telles Academy<\/p>\n
Tippin Elementary School<\/p>\n
Tom Lea Elementary School<\/p>\n
Torres Elementary School<\/p>\n
Whitaker Elementary School<\/p>\n
Wiggs Middle School<\/p>\n
Young Women\u2019s Academy<\/p>\n
Zach White Elementary School<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As EPISD students prepare for summer break, district leaders are preparing for something far less celebratory: deep budget…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[43986,66995,138,140,30614,139,113110,6451],"class_list":["post-314456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-brian-lusk","tag-budget-shortfall","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-independent-school-district","tag-el-paso-news","tag-financial-exigency","tag-job-cuts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}