EPISD board to vote on bond election, options go up to $480 million

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees on Tuesday will possibly decide on calling for $480 million of bond propositions during a November election to bring improvements to its campuses.

According to the district, these propositions would be focused on bringing updated cooling systems and other improvements.

The district said officials plan to present three bond options to the board. They range from about $208 million to around $481 million. Documents show that each presentation has four propositions.

According to an EPISD presentation, the first option totals $208,937,257. This option is the cheapest, with the money going toward transportation, safety, replacing cooling and others.

Option two totals $445,804,136. The majority of this option would go to deferred maintenance and replacing cooling, documents said.

The third option totals $480,804,136. This is the only option with a tax rate increase, which is 0.01, documents said. It includes money for cooling, portable classrooms, transportation, playground and other amenities.

If approved, the proposals could start the process for the district to further address its needs and improvements.

Tuesday's meeting comes less than a week after the board appointed two temporary trustees for Districts 6 and 7: Matthew Reza and Brian Kelly. The two districts represent much of Northwest El Paso and the Upper Valley.

EPISD documents said an election day is set for Nov. 3.