Hillside Elementary will not close as part of EPISD Destination District Redesign
Update (3:34 PM): El Paso County Commissioner David Stout sent a letter asking EPISD not to close the proposed schools.
Honorable EPISD Trustees and Superintendent Sayavedra:
Thank you for your service to the El Paso community. I appreciate your efforts to improve the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD).
Unfortunately, I do not believe that the recommendation to close 10 elementary schools in EPISD, eight of which are in Precinct 2, will further your efforts.
In 2016 the district passed a record bond of almost $700 million. A few years after that it started closing schools, with the last closure only a few years ago. The bond and the school closures were paired. The promise was a “right-sizing” with better schools and more opportunities, and a sustainable budget. But after closing 18 schools the promised cost savings did not materialize. In fact, as a federal judge found in 2022, after a lawsuit was filed alleging discrimination in the choice of schools to close, that financial problems actually worsened after bond-supported closures.
Now the district proposes to close 10 more schools. At the same time, EPISD has hired a bond consultant.
There is confusion regarding whether the bond is part of the closure strategy, which comes from a concept called Destination District Redesign. The district will need to finance capital improvements for its redesign. Therefore, it is hard to imagine how the bond discussion and the closure proposals are not linked.
Similarly linked to this question is the district’s equity audit. While recent media reporting has focused on certain questions not related to school closures, I understand that the audit is a result of a settlement of the lawsuit referenced above. It was obvious that the previous closings disproportionately affected low-income neighborhoods, especially south of I-10, which is an unfortunate dividing line in the El Paso community. An equity audit is a comprehensive analysis of a school district's policies, practices, and outcomes. This is an opportunity to figure out what works, in what neighborhood schools, and should be used to precede and inform district restructuring.
For my constituents, the potential loss of community schools is part of a cycle of subsidizing new development to the detriment of maintenance and investments in existing urban areas. It creates a cycle of disinvestment that the city has been trying to address. Many if not most of the schools to be closed are barely 50 years old or less.
These are investments that were meant to serve future generations and to sustain El Paso communities. I have heard from many constituents that it is important for them to be able to walk to their children’s school. Closing schools sends a message that El Paso is not committed to walkable neighborhoods, and undermines the broad community effort to maintain and improve legacy neighborhoods.
Finally, it appears that the state will have the ability to support increased school funding this session. With a record state budget surplus and the likelihood of increased federal funding on border issues freeing up state funds, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other legislative leaders have signaled a willingness to discuss increased investment in education.
Because of these concerns and questions, I respectfully ask that EPISD not take action on closures Tuesday, and instead take the time to produce a comprehensive plan that allows community schools to continue serving neighborhoods.
Sincerely,
David C. Stout
County Commissioner
El Paso County, Precinct 2
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso Independent School District officials confirmed to ABC-7 Monday morning that Hillside Elementary in Central El Paso will not be included in the Destination District Redesign project.
Officials provided the following statement to ABC-7:
“El Paso Independent School District has continued its commitment to community engagement within Destination District Redesign (DDR) by hosting a series of community meetings at campuses across the district. These meetings are designed to provide families and community members of proposed rightsizing (closure) campuses and proposed receiving campuses with essential information about the transition plans as well as gather essential feedback, address questions, and receive important insights to make appropriate adjustments to the district’s recommendation.
As part of those adjustments, Hillside Elementary is NOT on the list of closure schools that will be submitted as part of the final recommendation to the Board of Trustees on Tuesday Nov 19th, 2024.”
EPISD board members will discuss and vote on "proposed elementary school closures, relocated and associated revisions" as part of Destination District Redesign during Tuesday's board meeting at the EPISD Administration Building, which is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
