EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — High school teachers of non-core (elective) courses in the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) will be required to instruct an added class next school year as part of the district’s efforts to cut costs amid a steep financial shortfall.
KTSM obtained the following statement from EPISD.
“As El Paso ISD progresses through the 2025-2026 budget development, we continue to focus on ensuring quality education and fiscal responsibility. As part of this effort, the District is conducting a thorough review of staffing and campus master schedules, to include conference periods for non-core teachers at the secondary level. This would not extend the workday, and teachers would still receive their state mandated planning time.”
EPISD
In the statement, EPISD went on to say that although they were able to reduce a projected $32 million shortfall in their budget for the 2025-26 school year by $14.6 million with their decision to close down eight of its schools over two years, they’re still having to explore other ways to address the remaining deficit.
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EPISD said that none of those measures will involve laying off teachers like Socorro ISD had to last week.
“It is important to note that as we navigate budget reductions, El Paso ISD affirms that no employees will be subjected to layoffs. We are dedicated to exploring all avenues to achieve our financial goals while upholding our commitment to both our staff and students,” the district said.
Norma De La Rosa, president of the El Paso Teachers Association (EPTA), said that this process will see that non-core teachers now teach for 7 out of 8 periods in a day, unlike teachers of core subjects like reading or math.
“They feel very disrespected and discriminated against because the district is putting the emphasis on the core teachers and allowing them to only do the six of eight periods,” De La Rosa said.
While EPISD was not clear on how this measure would help them cut costs, De La Rosa said that it will likely be through attrition, as the district won’t need to hire new teachers or fill teacher vacancies for the extra classes these teachers will be taking on.
A non-core high school teacher from EPISD, who did not want to be identified on the record, said that this will take away valuable time from them to plan for the extracurricular activities that come with elective courses.
“The non-core teachers are the ones that take the kids to competitions. They’re the ones that go the extra mile to do things that the non-core teachers don’t do. We do a lot more field trips, a lot more ‘getting ready for college’ kind of activities, resume writing, business competitions, FBLA competitions, DECA competitions, robotics competitions, and we take the kids out of town. And every time that happens, there is a lot of planning involved,” the teacher said.
The teacher said that as it was, they were already struggling to balance time for planning these activities with time to perform their regular classroom duties such as planning lessons and grading papers. Many of those duties the teacher said they already had to take home to catch up at times.
“This is all stuff that if you’re not given the time, that means you have to use your free time. Your time with your family then becomes a sacrifice because you don’t have time for your family, and so that brings down our morale a lot,” the teacher added.
The teacher said that while EPISD currently offers additional pay of $1,500 for any teachers that teach an extra class, there won’t be any added pay with this new requirement.
The teacher also questioned why EPISD doesn’t look at other measures when analyzing how to cut costs, such as addressing a problem with student absences at its high school campuses.
“If children can be absent 100 days and still earn credit, they’re going to be absent 100 days. They’re not learning anything. If they’re absent 100 days, why do they deserve to earn credit? Why do they deserve to graduate? They don’t deserve to graduate if they’re absent 100 days. But the district is more concerned about graduation rates,” the teacher said.
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De La Rosa said that while her members understand that EPISD is facing severe financial struggles and has to be aggressive with its budget as a result, they’re frustrated that the district administration always tries to address the situation by making decisions that readily impact teachers and students.
“Why does it always have to start at the bottom where it’s going to affect kids, where it’s going to affect employees? The common thread that I’m hearing is that if we’re going to make cuts, the cuts need to start at the top, i.e., central office,” De La Rosa said.
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