ABC-7 XTRA SUNDAY: Budget Crisis in Local School Districts

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- These are challenging times for school districts across Texas, and El Paso is no exception. The three major school districts -- El Paso, Ysleta and Socorro -- are all facing declining student enrollment and budget deficits.

Local school districts have been discussing budgets for the upcoming school year for the past few weeks. On Monday, the El Paso district approved its budget for the 2024-25 school year with a 18.5 million dollar deficit that will be covered by money from the district's reserve fund.

Last week, the Ysleta school district approved the budget for next school year and plans to use 17.2 million from its reserves to balance the budget, while the Socorro school district has an expected 41 million dollar shortfall for the next school year they must cover.

This Sunday on ABC7 Xtra, we'll discuss the budget crisis for local school districts from three perspectives. First, we'll hear from Ysleta district superintendent Doctor Xavier de la Torre. Later in the program we'll be joined by Ross Moore, president of the El Paso American Federation of Teachers, and State Representative Mary Gonzalez, a member of the higher education committee in the Texas House, who will share with us the battle over education funding at the state capitol.

ABC-7 Xtra Sunday with Mark Ross airs at 10:35 pm, right after ABC-7 at Ten Weekend.