EPISD is brainstorming for bonds

Tuesday afternoon the El Paso Independent School District brainstormed for a possible upcoming bond.

The district says they’re in need of better facilities. Some of the buildings they say were built in the 1950s.

The facilities advisory committee which consists of members of the community, businesses and district officials discussed a five-year plan.

They hope this plan will provide their students with 21st-century learning.

“Our children today are used a much different environment than we had when we were going to school so that means really changing the way our classrooms look,” said Melissa Martinez, district spokeswoman.

Martinez said this is the committee’s sixth meeting. The committee has already toured several schools to see for themselves just what the district needs to improve on.

“They are really looking at a new presentation on what the possibilities are, where we would like to take our facilities to support our academic initiatives and programming,” Martinez said.

District officials talked about a five-year plan. The plan includes active learning for students; a more hands on approach and creating unique learning spaces.

“If we are asking children to collaborate together, to work on projects together, right now the way our spaces are built and exist, they are very confining,” Martinez said.

The plans also include new campuses and consolidation of old ones which have raised some opposition with parents in the past.

“We have too many buildings within the district. We have too many school buildings and our enrollment continues to decline therefore our funding declines so it is a real challenge that we have. That money that’s going to our operating costs could instead be used for academic programming and teacher’s salaries,” Martinez said.

The committee is expected to present the recommendations to the board Aug. 10. The board can decide to call a bond Aug. 16 and the district could see a bond election in November.