El Paso ISD overcomes deficit hurdles; passes its 2014-2015 budget

It took months of crunching the numbers, but the El Paso Independent School District has managed to pass its 2014 -2015 budget Tuesday night.

With a $17 million deficit, it’s been a tough couple of months for the district. Fewer students this year translated into less state money. To balance the budget, the district chose to cut stipends for kinder teachers, pro-rate stipends for science teachers, and eliminate 172 teaching positions and 56 central office positions.

By doing this, they were able to give wrestling and 9th grade soccer coaches stipends, give teachers a 2.3 percent raise, give food service employees a 5 percent raise, and all other employees a 1 percent raise.

These raises force the district to dip into their reserves by about $10 million. But the board said taking care of the district’s staff is worth it.

The district will continue to contribute the $435 to their employees health insurance plans, or about $35 million per year. Although teachers said it needs to contribute more to offset rising costs.

The budget goes into effect on June 30th.