EPISD: Budget shortfall closer to Hatch’s $7 million projection than Byrd’s $3 million

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Ms. Byrd after the district clarified its budget discrepancy.

Graduation is a time for celebration, but some parents of EPISD students are concerned about how their students will get to that point.

The district announced last week it is projected to lose about $26.6 million dollars over the next five years and nearly $60 million during a 10-year period.

Estimates show enrollment will continue to decline by about 4,000 students by 2022, district officials said.

In an attempt to regain financial stability, the district is considering closing several schools.

Jose Derasso has five kids who all attend EPISD schools. ABC-7 spoke to him at his daughter’s graduation from Transmountain Early College High School.

“I’m concerned that it wasn’t addressed a lot earlier. It should’ve been addressed three, four years ago instead of waiting until the last minute and then it’s gonna impact the community, all the parents,” Derasso said.

It’s a sentiment that was echoed by graduate Christina Saenz.

“I have siblings, my sisters, my cousins they’re still in EPISD and they still have a lot to go forward to,” Saenz said. “Hopefully they don’t go through that pain when they have to be separated.”

EPISD trustee for District 3 Susie Byrd said the district is actually facing a $3 million budget shortfall, not $7 million as board president Trent Hatch originally said on Thursday.

The district’s official stance is that the budget shortfall is closer to $7 million. EPISD spokesman Gustavo Reveles issued this statement to ABC-7:

“The difference in the deficit figures Ms. Byrd is quoting and the ones we have spoken about has to do with the academic and capital improvement commitments the District has already made. Ms. Byrd is quoting a table that did not include these commitments, which were explained during an earlier workshop. These commitments include necessary funding for dual-language and special education programming.”

Byrd, a guest on ABC-7 XTRA Sunday night, said the school district needs to find other ways of overcoming the budget shortfalls this year. She wants public input before schools are closed.

“We should wait until next year to go through a thoughtful process to allow students, to allow parents, to allow community members to weigh in on those issues,” Byrd said. “At this phase, three weeks before we have to adopt our budget and we don’t even know what schools we are going to close.”

A day after her appearance on Xtra, Trustee Byrd still questioned why the board was presented with a $3 million shortfall to discuss, only to have that number swell to $7 million days later.

“You should know what your commitments are before you present your budget to the board,” she told ABC-7.

Hatch said board trustees will go to their district, meet with staff and look at the numbers.

They will then come together and decide whether to get public input or take a vote.