Taking a closer look at EPISD enrollment numbers

The El Paso Independent School District is looking to maximize current facilities and improve the overall student experience.

“In the last 25 years, we haven’t increased enrollment at all. In fact, we’ve decreased,” Superintendent Juan Cabrera said during a press conference Friday afternoon.

It’s become a numbers game. EPISD has grown in square footage by 3.7 million but the number of students has essentially flat lined.

“They (Schuster and Zavala Elementaries) both still have fewer than 300 kids. They’ve been on discussion since 2007, 2008 and you would expect we look at those again,” Cabrera added. The two schools are on the chopping block because of those low enrollment numbers.

Crosby Elementary would be closed but re-purposed before being demolished down the line. Superintendent Cabrera says Irvin High School students would use the campus during renovations at the high school.

“If the community saw the benefit of a 2,000 kid high school that’s strong academics, strong athletic and strong curricular we would definitely do that and support that,” Cabrera said about the possibility of joining south central El Paso’s two high schools, Jefferson and Bowie.

However, data and research need to be completed before any of the ideas are presented to the school board.

Quiet Friday afternoon outside Coronado High School, which is surprising since the school has the second highest enrollment number of any El Paso high school.

The three EPISD high schools in terms of students are:

Franklin with 2,753
Coronado with 2,537
Chapin with 1,813

“We do take these cost saving matters lightly and we will vet all ideas to the community, if we make any of these decisions at all,” Cabrera said to ensure that none of these consolidation ideas have been decided on yet.

The average age of EPISD schools is 56 years. Major population shifts have caused enrollment drops in certain areas, such as south central according to the district.