This is your weekly news roundup, which takes a quick look at some developments in government, politics, education, environment and other topics across El Paso.
EPISD Contracts Bond Strategist Amid School Closures
The El Paso Independent School District is one step closer to bringing a bond election to voters after its Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to contract a strategy consulting service to advise the district.
The district plans to allocate $2.09 million to work with IN2 Architecture Inc., a Dallas-based architecture and design firm specializing in educational facilities.
The EPISD school board would still need to vote whether to approve a bond measure before it could be placed on the ballot in November 2025 or May 2026, “but the timeline for that bond is not being considered today,” EPISD superintendent Diana Sayavedra said.
This comes as EPISD embarks on an initiative that will close several elementary schools while trying to improve the ones that remain open, dubbed “Destination District Redesign.”
Some of the projects that may be part of the bond include replacing evaporative air conditioners in schools with refrigerated air, upgrading security features and improving facilities, Sayavedra said.
Sayavedra said the school closure process will happen independently, but parallel to any potential bond elections.
“The Destination District Redesign recommendation that will come to the board is under the assumption that there will be no bond passed by the community. What I’m sharing is that school closures are a reality for this school district regardless of whether we’re able to pass a bond or not,” she said.
A campus map at El Paso Community College’s Valle Verde campus. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)
EPCC Part of First State Cohort to Strengthen ESL Student Support
El Paso Community College is among four Texas colleges that will participate in a statewide effort to strengthen support for Multilingual Learners of English so they can complete their degrees or credentials and achieve economic stability.
EPCC is part of the first cohort for “Translating Opportunity Texas” that launched in September and will conclude in December 2027. The other team members are Amarillo College, Brazosport College (Lake Jackson) and Houston Community College.
Myshie Pagel, dean of Education and Career and Technical Education, said one of the main issues is that students often do not identify themselves as needing help with English.
She said a common scenario is that those students will enroll in regular classes and realize too late that their English skills are not where they need to be and will drop out, but the college will not know why.
The project will include a top-to-bottom review of existing programs and a development of an action plan to strengthen the college’s English as a Second Language pathways and support services for MLE students.
“A big part of the work is how can we better help them but not put barriers in front of them,” Pagel said. “How can we build a curriculum that will give them what they need so they can move on.”
The institutions will co-develop materials, systems and embedded support services to align with the Texas Association of Community College’s Talent Strong Texas Pathways program that strives to enhance socioeconomic mobility.
This initiative will address the unique needs of MLE students and equip them with the resources and support they need to succeed academically and reach their career aspirations, said Kimberly Lowry, executive director of the Texas Success Center.
The Texas Success Center, a division of the TACC, will direct the research. The Ascendium’s Education Philanthropy, a division of the Ascendium Education Group, will fund the study.
JW Roth, left, and Bob Mudd, officials with Notes Live, Inc., look over the land that will become the Sunset Amphitheater in Northeast El Paso. It is on the site of the former Cohen Stadium. (Daniel Perez / El Paso Matters)
City Land Transfer to Venu for Northeast Amphitheater Delayed
The land transfer between the city and Venu, formerly Notes Live, has been pushed back a month, according to an amendment to the city’s contract with the company aiming to build a 12,500-seat amphitheater in Northeast El Paso.
Preconstruction work including a traffic study are underway, but the inspection period extension related to issues with finalizing details of the title transfer, including concerns over unexploded ordnance at the site, said Karina Brasgalla, the city’s interim director for the Economic and International Development Department.
Brasgalla said the extension through Oct. 29 is for both the city and Venu to respond to the title objections and exceptions that must be resolved to close the land transfer since they may affect the legal rights of the property owner. In this case, the outstanding concern is the unexploded ordnance identified on munitions maps for this area, she said. The original deadline in the contract was the end of September.
Brasgalla said the delay should not impact the completion of the amphitheater, which is anticipated for March 2026.
Venu relies heavily on high-dollar investments in luxury fire pit suites and memberships as part of its financial model. Brasgalla said the company cannot open the El Paso Sunset Amphitheater for investment until the land title transfer has been finalized.
The City Council in July approved $31 million in economic incentives as part of the Chapter 380 agreement with the company to build the project on a 50-acre plot of city-owned land in the Cohen Entertainment District where a Minor League Baseball stadium once stood.
A groundbreaking date has not been set.
The post EPISD hires bond consultant; Northeast amphitheater land transfer delayed appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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