EPISD Board discusses budget challenges, declining enrollment in workshop

The El Paso Independent School District board of trustees is working to finalize its budget for the upcoming year.

The board discussed some of the challenges it faces at a budget workshop on Tuesday.

“Some of the things we see immediately is declining enrollment,” EPISD Board President Trent Hatch said. “Based on the forecast and projections, there’s approximately 1,300 students that will not enroll in 2018 – 2019. That’s going to impact our state and federal funding.”

According to district documents, the district has a projected 2019 revenue of $496,305,887. The district is projecting 2019 expenditures to be $503,318,874. That means the board will have to figure out how it plans on tackling a discrepancy of a little more than $7 million.

“We have to really vet and do a deep dive into who we are — the facilities, how to support our employees long term, our enrollment numbers over the next five years — today is the day, and now is the time that we need to really do a deep dive into how we will continue to move in the future,” Hatch said.

The board also received a presentation from Ann Patton, a managing compensation consultant. One of the things the district is looking into is providing a 1.1-percent pay increase for teachers, librarians and registered nurses.

“It’s inadequate. A lot of it is the state’s fault, a lot of it can be found within district,” said Ross Moore, President of American Federation of Teachers El Paso Branch. “It’s extreme unhappiness, that’s the politest word I can use. When they look at year after year, even with the raises the board was able to give teachers, they’re falling behind more and more when you look at the real inflation rates.”

Given what was discussed at Tuesday’s budget workshop, when asked if he was hopeful how the budget was going to look for teachers, Moore said: “No. Not at this point.”

The board will finalize a budget in June.