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The El Paso Matters Podcast<\/a><\/p>\n Diego Mendoza-Moyers: Today: EPISD is likely going to put a bond north of $400 million to voters this November. Just weeks after the district declared financial exigency, a form of bankruptcy for public school districts, the elephant in the room now is whether the district can garner enough trust from voters to win support for the ballot item this fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elsewhere in El Paso\u2019s education system, Ysleta Independent School District just approved a budget that virtually wipes out the district\u2019s savings balance and leaves the district with almost no room for financial error. And while the district superintendent has said YISD will avoid the kind of layoffs EPISD recently implemented, the district will likely still see a reduction in force next school year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Socorro Independent School District expects a budget surplus for the upcoming year, and the district could exit state conservatorship next month.\u00a0<\/p>\n In just a moment, I\u2019ll speak with El Paso Matters education reporter Claudia Silva to talk through the conditions at each of El Paso\u2019s three largest school districts \u2013 which are all beleaguered to some extent at the moment \u2013 and what to expect at each district in the near future.\u00a0<\/p>\n First, this El Paso Matters Podcast episode is brought to you by our podcast title sponsor Tawney, Acosta and Chaparro, truck crash and injury attorneys. Their team of local, seasoned trial attorneys are ready to help if you\u2019ve been injured in a crash.\u00a0<\/p>\n And you can read our free reporting or sign up for our newsletter<\/a> at our website, elpasomatters.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n On to the rest of the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia, good to be with you again.\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia Silva: Yeah, thanks for having me.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: It seems like we\u2019ve been talking a lot about education-related stuff, so thanks for taking the time. I know a lot is going on.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, you wrote this week about EPISD\u2019s plans for a bond election this November. Can you talk through the district\u2019s plan and what it wants to use new funds for?\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia: Yeah, well, I just want to say it\u2019s still always a pleasure to inform people about what\u2019s going on with the districts, even though things have been really hectic right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, yeah, let\u2019s talk about EPISD. So, I guess before we start talking about an actual bond, I think the first thing that we should maybe go over is this new long-range master plan that was presented around the same time as this bond proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, what the long-range master plan is, essentially, is the district\u2019s long-term plan for any renovations and improvements that it needs to make in the coming years. And this plan was actually developed by a series of committees and subcommittees that are made (up) by citizens, residents, parents, there\u2019s some school employees and union members.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, they all got together and talked about different aspects of the district that they think need improvement. And they put this (to a) vote. And, with all that information that they gathered and a lot of data that the district gathered about the resources in the different areas of the schools and the conditions of the actual campuses, they came up with a long-range master plan that is worth a total of a billion dollars.\u00a0<\/p>\n In that plan, I think the two largest portions are air conditioning or HVAC, so heating and cooling. And for the long-range master plan, that would cost about $133 million. And the actual really big, big chunk of that is deferred maintenance, which is basically maintenance that\u2019s been put off. So, if there\u2019s been any repairs needed or anything that\u2019s broken that the district just hasn\u2019t had money to fix, that\u2019s where that kind of goes.\u00a0<\/p>\n And the district calculated that it has about almost $470 million in deferred maintenance needs. So, that\u2019s basically the vast majority of that $1 billion \u2013 almost half of that $1 billion long-range master plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the plan is also the inclusion of some smaller things, like installing solar panels in 13 schools, adding green spaces throughout the campuses, new IT infrastructure and cybersecurity. They\u2019ve also been talking about rebuilding Bliss Elementary, which was something that was from the 2016 bond.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, what was actually presented as far as a bond earlier this week was actually just a draft. So, this isn\u2019t an official proposal. This is just to give an idea of what a bond could look like. So the bond, it was separated into three pieces and it totaled $445 million. So, even though the district identified a billion dollars in needs, they\u2019re only going to go after a portion of that.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: EPISD eyes up to $450 million bond election, outlines $1 billion in long-term needs<\/a><\/p>\n And, so, it\u2019s broken into three pieces. The first, the largest piece is $409 (million), about $410 million. And that is to address cooling systems, some of the most dire deferred maintenance needs, installing solar panels at four schools and just kind of general improvements throughout the districts. There\u2019s making the playgrounds better, more green spaces, things that will improve the student experience, like adding water fountains and water refill stations. So, just general things like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n The second would be about $10 million, and it\u2019s an ask to purchase technology devices for teachers and students. That one\u2019s a little bit controversial, because there\u2019s some people that don\u2019t think it\u2019s a good idea to get into debt, essentially. to purchase equipment that\u2019s going to be outdated in a few years. So, that\u2019s its own proposition on its own.\u00a0<\/p>\n And then the last one is $25 million to renovate athletic stadiums. So, these are just the ones that are used for big games.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s essentially what the draft is. We should know sometime in early August, or even within the next few weeks in July, what the official proposal is going to be. The district, I think their goal is to keep the tax rate the same. So, that\u2019s the exact number that they\u2019re going to look for. David Bates, the deputy superintendent, he told me that could be anywhere between $430 (million) to about $450 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n But one thing I think is important to know when we talk about the tax rate is they are trying to keep the tax rate the same, but that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean taxes won\u2019t increase. Some homeowners may see an increase just because property valuations have been going up.\u00a0<\/p>\n But another thing to remind people is that there are still a significant amount of people in El Paso that wouldn\u2019t be affected by this. Usually, seniors and disabled veterans, a lot of times their school property taxes are frozen. So, it\u2019s pretty complicated when you look into it. But, bottom line, tax rate is going to stay the same, but a few people\u2019s tax bills for the district could go up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: All really good information. Appreciate that, Claudia, and kind of breaking down the different buckets, I guess, that they\u2019re seeking funding for.\u00a0<\/p>\n You\u2019ve done a lot of reporting recently on EPISD declaring financial exigency, basically discovering a budget blow up, right, that apparently had been withheld from the board of trustees by some of the senior administrators at EPISD.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: In emotional meeting, EPISD board approves financial exigency and starts steep budget cuts<\/a><\/p>\n And, so, EPISD, all right, in the middle of a big budget crisis, they just had to lay off 55 employees. A couple of the trustees on the board resigned. So, EPISD\u2019s going through some tough financial times, right? And, even still, there\u2019s still pretty strong support for EPISD\u2019s bond among different community groups that have been advocating for this for a while, particularly around installing new HVAC units.\u00a0<\/p>\n And, so, I just wonder if you can talk about how some of the community organizing groups are pushing the bond and why?\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia: Yeah. Well, one thing to mention is, the last time there was a bond approved by voters, it was in 2016. And that bond, primarily, focused on additions to the high schools and making renovations there. And it also consolidated a few elementary and middle schools and basically combined them into this, pre-K-through-8 campuses.\u00a0<\/p>\n But that actually left a lot of schools, mainly elementary schools, without a lot of updates. So, I think that that was \u2013 one of the main things that people are wanting is they\u2019re seeing that we have still a lot of schools that weren\u2019t touched by the 2016 bond and people want to start seeing improvements there.\u00a0<\/p>\n SEE ALSO: Delayed EPISD subcontractor payments near resolution as board considers $400K\u00a0 payout<\/a><\/p>\n One of the organizations that has been in support of a bond for a couple of years now is the Amanecer People\u2019s Project. So, they launched what they call the Escuelas Frescas campaign in 2024. And, basically, what they did is they went around and they talked to parents and went to different campuses and tried to just get information on what they could.\u00a0<\/p>\n And they found that there were several dozen elementary schools that just didn\u2019t have adequate air conditioning. A lot of them were running on, I think, what we would call swamp coolers or evaporative air. And a lot of those just aren\u2019t as \u2013 they don\u2019t really work as well whenever the temperatures are really high. And another problem is that there\u2019s now requirements where all classrooms have to close their doors. And the way those air-conditioning systems work, if you don\u2019t have doors open or some form of airflow, they\u2019re basically just completely ineffective.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, that\u2019s kind of what they ended up finding. And, since then, they\u2019ve been pushing and looking for different ways that the district can get different air conditioning.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other group that has shown support for the bond has been Familias Unidas Por La Educacion. They are a grassroots advocacy group from the Chamizal neighborhood in South Central El Paso. And they have been very vocal against the closures of schools that happened under previous leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n And one thing that they\u2019re really supporting is, under the long-range master plan and potentially the bond, and still hasn\u2019t been fully clarified, is they\u2019re talking about reopening some of the closed schools that were closed through the 2016 bond and turn them into pre-K centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n And I think the purpose of that is really to try to get more people to enroll. And after talking to some people that live in the neighborhood, they actually feel that there\u2019s a lot of people, there are a lot of parents that have young children that could qualify to go to pre-K or kindergarten, and they just haven\u2019t been enrolled for whatever reason. So, they\u2019re hoping that reopening the center will give students access to education, and the district, I think, is hoping to get more enrollment from that.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: Yeah, and maybe breathe some life into the campuses that have been defunct?\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia: Essentially, yeah.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: So, EPISD\u2019s Deputy Superintendent, David Bates, who you mentioned, and he recently joined the district, I think late last year, right, with the new superintendent Brian Lusk. So, relatively new to the district. But he had an interesting quote in your story where he was saying, like, \u201cI\u2019ve managed $5.5 billion in funds when I was in Dallas. And, so, here I can manage $400 million, essentially, with no problem,\u201d right? And, so, I thought that was interesting.\u00a0<\/p>\n I thought it was trying to maybe differentiate the current administration with the prior leadership at EPISD, which had some troubles implementing the 2016 bond. And, so, I just wonder what you made of Bates\u2019 comment there and just the district\u2019s overall push to rebuild trust with the community before the election in November?\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia: Yeah. Well, I just want to mention, I really wasn\u2019t around when the 2016 bond was implemented, so, I can\u2019t really speak to what it was like back then. But, from what I\u2019ve heard from people is that there were some issues, there were some delays, and even we\u2019ve reported that there were some delays with payments. So, the bond really didn\u2019t go very smoothly from what I understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, when we talk about administration, when you kind of compare it to the administration that we had previously under Diana Sayavedra, she resigned last year under pressure from the board after this whole changeup of the makeup and of the board.\u00a0<\/p>\n But this administration seems \u2013 they seem competent to me. But, in hindsight, the last one did as well. And now we see the issues that came from them. But I will say that I do think that this administration has been more transparent, at least with me as a reporter and with different members of the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n Previously, I did feel like it was more difficult to get interviews and sometimes the answers that we got weren\u2019t the most straightforward. And now this new administration, both David Bates and Dr. Lusk, if we ask to speak to them, that\u2019s usually happened. There\u2019s usually been no problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n The other thing is, in these past few days, I\u2019ve looked at more documents related to the conditions of EPISD\u2019s facilities, the resources in the area, all these different aspects related to school enrollment, teacher attrition, all of that. I\u2019ve seen more of that in these past few days than I\u2019d seen in this whole time, three years that I\u2019ve been working (covering) EPISD.\u00a0<\/p>\n And it was a lot of data, maybe a little bit too much to absorb. But, to me, that shows that there is an effort to give that information and be more open with the community. And it is, I think, fair to say these two administrators, they come from a bigger district. They\u2019ve worked with much, much larger sums of money.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, at the end of the day, it\u2019s really hard to say if all of that I\u2019ve just mentioned is enough to truly convince voters. They just laid off 55 employees. A lot of the public doesn\u2019t fully understand a lot of the changes that were happening. I don\u2019t think that they understand that everything that came out came out because of these changes in administration. And I think it\u2019s just going to be a difficult sell to ask some people for more money when there has been this history in this district of not being able to manage it adequately.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: Yeah. And we\u2019ve spoken about this a couple times, but just how I think the question of whether the district can rebuild trust, like that\u2019s going to matter a lot for students, right? And, if voters do reject this, the people that will suffer are students sitting in hotter classrooms and with worse facilities and things like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n But of course, at the same time, I\u2019m going to understand and \u2013 I get the skepticism of EPISD. They just had this financial disaster sort of show up out of nowhere. Apparently the trustees all had no idea and weren\u2019t very well-informed on what was going on in the district. So, I think that there\u2019s going to be some skepticism from voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, anyways, I appreciate that. And I just thought it was an interesting comment from David Bates to make the point, like, \u201cWe\u2019ve dealt with even bigger sums of money. We can handle this. We can deploy it effectively and get these projects done.\u201d So, just was an interesting selling point from him, I guess.\u00a0<\/p>\n But speaking of the trustees, Claudia, we know \u2013 and we\u2019ve done a couple of podcasts recently. We\u2019ve spoken through how Trustees Daniel Call and Valerie Beals stepped down and resigned amid this budget blow up.\u00a0<\/p>\n And I just wonder, is there any clarity on when their seats will be filled? I think you reported that the trustees are opting to do an appointment process as opposed to an election. And, so, and part of the reason I\u2019m asking this is because the trustees will have to decide on whether to put the bond on the ballot in November. Is that right?\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia: Yeah. So, it will be up to the trustees. They\u2019re going to have to do a final vote and it\u2019s going to be in August, early August where they\u2019re going to vote on whether the bond is going to be on the ballot this November.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, so, essentially, what the board is doing is they\u2019re taking an appointment process to try to fill those two vacancies. I\u2019ve already talked to a few people that say that they are interested in applying or have already applied. So, it seems like there are going to be quite a few people who are interested in taking responsibility for this role.\u00a0<\/p>\n The last time there was an appointment was Dr. Jack Loveridge. He was an appointed board member. And what they did, essentially, is they took applications from different people that were living in the district who were interested. And they actually decided on three final candidates or three finalists.\u00a0<\/p>\n What they did is they held a candidates forum. And after that forum \u2013 well, at the forum, what they did is they, essentially, were able to talk to the public, answer questions, share information about themselves, who they are. And, after the forum, the board went ahead and voted and decided who would fill those positions of those three finalists.\u00a0<\/p>\n I think what\u2019s important to know is whoever gets chosen is going to have to run again in May if they want to keep their seat. So, I think that\u2019s just an important thing to keep in mind. This is going to be less than a year that they would technically be on the board.\u00a0<\/p>\n From what I understand, they should be selecting a finalist in potentially late July, early August. They haven\u2019t set out an official timeline just yet, but we should, I think, probably in the next week get some more information from the district about what the process will look like. I\u2019m not 100% sure if they\u2019ll have to vote on that, but there\u2019s usually a presentation given to the board that outlines the process of what the appointment will be like.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: Do you think the new trustees, whoever they are, will be in their seats in time to vote on the bond question, I guess, or the bond item?\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia: I think that\u2019s the goal. They have to move rather quickly since their plan is to vote on the bond on August 11th. But I think it is possible for them to get it done before then.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: Yeah, well, it\u2019ll be interesting to see that process play out.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shifting off of EPISD \u2013 I think we could talk EPISD for a while \u2013 but I just want to get your thoughts on a couple of the other school districts in town, Claudia, that obviously serve a big chunk of the population.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, at Socorro Independent School District, they\u2019re the second-largest district. They\u2019ve had a situation where I think last year they entered conservatorship by the State of Texas for complex reasons that you\u2019re welcome to talk to if you want. But where they are now is they just approved a budget with a budget surplus, right? So, I think they\u2019re trying to rebuild their savings at Socorro.\u00a0<\/p>\n SEE ALSO: Socorro ISD approves balanced budget, state conservator delays departure over special education data reporting<\/a><\/p>\n And, so, it\u2019s looking like, \u201cOK, in the next coming year, we\u2019ll have a surplus. Maybe in the years after, we might have a small surplus as well.\u201d And they might be exiting the state conservatorship next month. So, I just wonder if you can give us an overall look at where Socorro Independent School District is at after they\u2019ve had some troubles recently as well?\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia: Yeah, definitely. Well, the first thing I want to note is it\u2019s actually getting closer to, I think, I believe two years where the conservators have been appointed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diego: Time\u2019s flying.\u00a0<\/p>\n Claudia: Yeah, definitely. So, they were actually \u2013 or maybe close, maybe even more. OK, so actually they were appointed in 2024. So, it\u2019s getting closer to two years that they were appointed. So, they\u2019ve definitely been there for some time.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, when we talk about Socorro ISD, they\u2019re basically coming out on the other end of their financial crisis. So, if we go back a couple of years, Socorro ISD was dealing with overspending and budgets that were higher than they were bringing in in revenue, which ended up digging into their savings.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, what ended up happening is, as their savings started to dwindle down, they didn\u2019t really have the money on hand to always cover their expenses. To kind of understand how it works is the state and the property taxes will come in in a scheduled time frame. So, the districts need to have this money on hand so they can pay their bills, pay payroll and make sure that everyone gets their paychecks on time.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, when this was happening, the district was having to take out loans. What they ended up having to do is make a series of budget cuts and they laid off employees last year. That allowed them to have a balanced budget. And this year as well they\u2019re having another balanced budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, now their plan going forward is to try to rebuild their savings. So, they\u2019re trying to get some \u2013 try to generate more revenue, so that they have more of that money on hand so they don\u2019t have to rely on loans in the future in case something happens.\u00a0<\/p>\n They did not have to declare financial exigency when they did layoffs, which was different than EPISD. I think what happened with EPISD is it was very sudden and they had already planned to approve all of these contracts, so they had to break them in order to lay people off. Socorro ISD had been planning ahead of time a little bit more. So, what they did is rather than breaking contracts is they set them for non-renewal. So basically said, \u201cHey, you work for us. We are not going to renew your contract next year.\u201d And that basically always happens in the summer in between school years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, when it comes to the conservators, they came on board for a couple of different reasons. I think the primary one was related to some graduation issues that had happened in previous years. And when they went in there, they realized there were a lot of problems with the district\u2019s financial tracking. So, they tried to kind of try to get everything back into shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n The only issue now is that the TEA, or the Texas Education Agency, discovered that there was some data related to special education that was, I guess, not correct or wasn\u2019t up to date. So, they did delay the conservatorship a little bit, and they\u2019re going to, from my understanding \u2013 that should get corrected relatively quickly. And the conservators are expected to leave next month.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tPOPULATION, BIRTH RATES & ENROLLMENT\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tEl Paso County lost nearly 12,000 school-age children since 2020, census estimates show<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tJune 25, 2026\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tWhere El Pasoans are moving, and what those destinations offer<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\tMay 28, 2026June 4, 2026\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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