$669 million bond proposal to be presented Tuesday

The Facilities Advisory Committee that crafted the El Paso Independent School District’s latest bond proposal met Monday night for a final time before it formally presents its proposal to the EPISD board of trustees Tuesday.

At $668,695,577, this latest bond proposal would be the largest in the city’s history.

District trustee Diane Dye does not anticipate the board will change the bond proposal.

“I believe they put too much work into this. They are the ones who decided exactly what was necessary. They are the ones who chose the projects and this is a representation of our constituency,” Dye said.

The projected tax impact for the committee-approved project list is a maximum of 0.1880 cents. The tax impact on a home of average value, with an average taxable value of $113,037 is $212.59 per year, or 17.72 per month, at its peak.

It was a long road for the 80 member committee, which had to make some tough choices on which proposed projects would be approved. The group is made up of parents, grandparents, military members and students.

Michael Divine sat on the committee.

“I went in to look at some of the schools to see if there was a need,” Divine said.

The district tasked the committee to come up with a proposal on how to deal with the district’s shrinking enrollment and aging infrastructure.

“There is a degree of emotion that goes into it and passion about things like this. You know, everybody wants to see their school get the best. But we also ask them to take a step back and help us balance and prioritize that. Because at the end of the day, we have over a billion dollars of need. Obviously, we don’t have a billion dollars, nor will we go to the taxpayers asking for a billion dollars. So, they will prioritize which projects should make it to the table,” said district spokesperson Melissa Martinez.

Zach Lyons also sat on the committee and believes the district vetted the cost of the projects.

“They didn’t just pull a number from the sky. There were a lot great minds working together on this, from the district and contracted professionals. They came together, sat down and looked at where we are at, where we want to be. They had architects and design firms,” Lyons said.

Some of the approved projects include:

Burges High School is approved for a $56,783,048 rebuild.

Jefferson/Silva High School is approved for a $39,631,708 renovation.

Coronado High School is approved for a $73,885,792 rebuild.

Lincoln K-8 will consolidate with Bond and Roberts elementary schools.

Henderson K-8 will consolidate with Bonham Elementary School.

The El Paso Independent School District is trying to streamline and modernize the district. The approved projects also include laptops for students and teachers, totaling $6,565,000.

There are also improvements to transportation. Twenty-four regular buses and 23 special education buses would be added, at a cost of $4,831,061.

One of the more controversial proposed projects was the consolidation of the Chamizal elementary schools. That project was not approved.

The board has until Aug. 22 to call for a bond. If that happens, the bond would be on the November ballot.

“I think the committee is the end of a process, but it’s the start of a new era. And come November, when voters go to the polls, not only are we electing a new president, we are kind of shaping the direction for the school district here locally. So, I think that is one of the biggest things we have to look at,” Lyons said.

The district is projected to lose 5,000 students in the next five years. Each student brings in about $6,000 in state and federal money, which means the district stands to lose $30 million dollars in funding over that period. District administrators have said they’d rather shift money towards education instead of using it to maintain aging, half-empty schools.