Potential EPISD closures not cost-saving methods

Kicking the can down the road — that’s essentially how a former EPISD school board trustee described the decision back in 2011 to keep two elementary schools open.

Now teachers and a new wave of students and parents face the same concern as budget cuts loom once again.

This week an EPISD staffer accidentally released preliminary meeting notes saying the district may consider closures and consolidations that could affect six schools. Decreased enrollment in the district has cut state funding by about $9 million. That makes for an even more grim budget picture than what the board saw three years ago. But Superintendent Juan Cabrera said those brainstorming ideas aren’t about cutting costs.

“And I get angry about this,” a grandmother told the EPISD school board during a February 2011 meeting. “That you put a price on that child’s head, and a price on that child’s head, and a price on my grandson’s head.”

Back in 2011 the district derived that price based on $2.5 million in state funding cuts. The board responded to standing-room-only backlash and voted to keep Schuster and Zavala elementary schools open for the time being.

“It’s a train wreck,” said then-Trustee David Dodge at the time, before being asked where the money would come from. “I don’t know. We’re going to have to find it.”

And keep finding it — current Board President Dee Margo said EPISD faces eight-figure increases in health-care costs this year. This week’s accidental email release was intended for Cabrera. The board wasn’t yet included in the discussion.

“They were actually brainstorming ideas, and that’s why we asked KFOX not to make a story out of notes, and I think that was inappropriate,” Cabrera said.

The notes mentioned possibly closing Schuster and Zavala, demolishing Crosby to make room for renovations at Irvin High School, and combining Jefferson and Bowie into one south El Paso High School.

“The Irvin, Crosby and Bowie, Jeff were taken out of context,” Cabrera said. “They’re not at all a part of a cost-saving measure, nor were they ever discussed in that context. It was a completely different context.”

Cabrera said likely classroom-scheduling changes are designed to save money. He said he has no plans for making staffing cuts. All ideas in the notes were strictly about using facilities efficiently.

“It has to be on the table, because in the last 25 years, we haven’t increased enrollment at all, in fact we’ve decreased, but we’ve added 3.7 million square feet of schools,” Cabrera said.

He added that none of the notes are concrete, because they’re not yet backed by research and data. A consultant is evaluating the district’s use of facilities. Cabrera said no decisions will be made until he gets a final report, which could take several months. Cabrera said he doesn’t expect to see any physical changes for another year and a half.