EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 An internal audit of El Paso ISD\u2019s budget overrun found financial warning signs were known within the district well before an original projected $42 million shortfall became public in May, but those risks were not properly communicated or addressed.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of El Paso ISD employees lost their jobs after the district discovered the budget shortfall. <\/p>\n
Since then, the school board has reduced the projected gap to $4.3 million by declaring a financial exigency, but questions remain about how the district\u2019s finances deteriorated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really multiple failures and what we\u2019re talking about in this most recent stretch, so basically from March April May onward is concealment of those multiple failures,\u201d said Dr. Jack Loveridge, the El Paso ISD board vice president and audit committee chair.<\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED: EPISD weighs $445M bond with no tax increase to fund HVAC, safety and maintenance<\/a><\/p>\n The audit reviewed spending as far back as 2010, spanning multiple superintendents. <\/p>\n It found spending continued to rise even as enrollment declined.<\/p>\n The district\u2019s fund balance \u2014 described as essentially its savings account \u2014 fell from more than $125 million in 2022 to a projected $60 million next year. <\/p>\n The audit also found that more than $10 million in projected savings never materialized, and another $11 million in spending occurred outside the board-approved budget.<\/p>\n \u201cThese expenditures included additional budget requests totaling 3 million dollars… health savings account contributions also 2.98 million dollars… staffing guideline revisions for special education and other significant costs,\u201d said Mayra Martinez, El Paso ISD\u2019s chief internal auditor.<\/p>\n Loveridge said the audit\u2019s most significant finding was a lack of safeguards to prevent the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the most significant finding is that systems were not in place to make sure that something like this didn\u2019t happen. There\u2019s a lot of corrective action that needs to be taken by the administration to basically undo years and years of bad practices,\u201d Loveridge said.<\/p>\n The audit also stated that former Chief Financial Officer Martha Aguirre did not effectively fulfill key responsibilities, including communicating financial information to district leadership and the board, according to Martinez.<\/p>\n \u201cSo the 6 million dollar budget that was presented to the board for adoption didn\u2019t fully reflect the anticipated operating requirements that were coming out for the fiscal year 25-26…. and the former CFO didn\u2019t affectively fulfill the key responsibilities that were assigned to her and communicating that information….\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n