2 El Paso ISD Schools On The Chopping Block

Two elementary schools in the El Paso Independent School District are on the chopping block and the district says the reason is the state’s budget.

If the schools are closed, hundreds of students could be relocated.

Parents ABC-7 spoke with said they will fight for their children’s schools to stay open.

The proposed closure of Schuster Elementary and Zavala Elementary are on Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Parents and staff said they just learned about the possibility and they won’t stand for it.

“Schuster is the best school ever,” exclaimed one student holding a sign along with other students and their parents.

All are angry their school might be forced to close.

“This was a good school I’ve been to. And I want my brother to have a good time here too,” said fourth-grader Amber Diaz.

“I just like the school itself because it’s the best school I’ve ever been to. I’ve been to 3 different schools and none of them were like this,” said Diaz’s brother, Tyler.

Their mom agrees. “The teachers and the staff are very caring and they’re very centered on making sure these kids get through the school year in the best possible way,” Susan Diaz said.

At a meeting on Monday, several parents compared the school atmosphere to that of a family. The parents and staff urged everyone to attend the upcoming school board meeting to fight the possible closure.

“There’s definitely a lot more work to do, I believe, before we look into those options of closing the school,” said Joel Barrios.

The district five trustee said EPISD could lose about $40 million in state funding. He doesn’t want his fellow trustees to rush into a decision on Tuesday.

“That we make the best vote for what we need to do and that we get all the facts together before we rush in and make a vote,” he said.

District officials said students from Schuster Elementary would be relocated to Crosby and Dowell Elementary Schools.

Also on the chopping block is Zavala Elementary in central El Paso.

Students there would be relocated to Burleson Elementary.

As of right now, both schools have small teacher to student ratios. Parents said if the schools are shut down, the students would pay the ultimate price.

Officials at Schuster Elementary said there are about 285 students currently enrolled. They said the school has a capacity of about 375.

According to Zavala Elementary officials, there are 291 students currently enrolled. Principal Olga Arreola said their goal is to have 334 students enrolled, but the school has a capacity of about 450.

“The more students they have in a classroom, the more difficult it is to take care of everybody in there. Everybody needs their own individualized attention at some point throughout the year,” Diaz said.

District officials said the teachers at those schools would be placed at other campuses.

Along with closing the schools, officials are looking at slashing approximately 382 positions in the district and more reductions to administration in the amount of $1.3 million to trim the budget.