El Paso Matters – School closures, enrollment declines, funding woes drive EPISD trustee elections in Central, Northeast

With a shrinking student population, millions in deficit and rising concerns over financial stability, the May 3 school board elections in El Paso’s largest district will lead to critical decisions that will impact the future of its students and employees for years to come.

The District 4 race in the El Paso Independent School District, which encompasses the areas around Chapin and Irvin high schools, has drawn three candidates, including incumbent Isabel Hernandez. 

The District 5 seat, which encompasses the area around Andress High School, has also drawn three candidates, including incumbent and current board President Israel Irrobali.

The candidates for both district races had differing views on how to address budget and financial challenges, though some agreed that – if necessary – they’d support cutting jobs at the administrative level. Though none said they would want to raise taxes, some said they would consider it as an option if it meant not having to lay off teachers.

The winners will join the school board as the district grapples with an $18.5 million deficit, the controversial decision to close eight schools and considers a bond measure that would raise taxes if approved by voters.

In the District 4 race, Hernandez will face Mindy Sutton, a senior instructor at the Otero County Detention Center, and Juan Duran, a special education teacher.

In the District 5 race, Irrobali will face Melvin Milton, a mobility manager in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Robert Osterland, a retired veteran and nonprofit youth basketball coach.

The two races have drawn few campaign contributions. Osterland’s campaign is largely self-funded, contributing $5,000 from his own pocket and drawing another $1,450 in donations. Sutton has raised about $1,600 in contributions, none of which were more than $250. No other candidates raised more than $1,000.

School board members are unpaid and serve four-year terms without term limits. Trustee elections are nonpartisan.

District 4 candidates on budget issues, tax increases

In June, the Board of Trustees adopted a $542 million budget for the 2024-25 school year without pay raises for employees and an $18.5 million deficit.

Sutton, 44, said cutting administrative positions could save the district money in the next budget cycle.

“They have too many administrative positions that are higher paid, and that are unnecessary (and) that make a lot of money,” Sutton said. “Those are things that need to be looked at.”

Sutton also said the district should stop hiring outside consulting firms as it did for the district redesign and proposed upcoming bond. Instead, that work should be done by district employees, she said.

The district in October hired IN2 Architecture Inc. as a bond consultant at the cost of up to $2.09 million.

“That kind of spending is unnecessary – paying, like, outside consultants, when you could really just use local or even people within the district to do the things that you need to do, that’s a big cost-saver,” Sutton said.

Most government entities such as school districts and the city and county typically hire outside consulting firms to determine how to manage multi-million-dollar bond proposals including projects lists.

She also said to ensure the district doesn’t lose funding from absences, the district needs to develop a program to work directly with families to ensure students are attending classes. She did not specify how the program would work.

School funding in Texas is based largely on the average daily attendance.

Sutton said raising the tax rate is not off the table to ensure the district can meet its needs.

“Raising taxes in general would maybe need to be an option,” Sutton said.

Hernandez, 64, who is seeking her second term, said she thinks the community should be willing to invest in the district and its financial needs, including possibly paying higher taxes.

“I think it’s all of our responsibilities as taxpayers to pay and to invest in our children – they are our future … and if we don’t invest and take the time to do it now, we’re not going to be in such good shape with our educational system,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez said EPISD isn’t in as bad financial shape as neighboring districts that have had to lay off teachers and staff, referring to the Socorro and Canutillo districts. 

She added that state funding doesn’t cover the needs of educating the students and that the district would have to make up for more shortfalls if the state doesn’t increase its funding.

The House this week preliminarily approved a public education spending bill that includes an increase to per-student funding, according to the Texas Tribune. The change would increase schools’ base funding by about $400 from the current $6,160 to $6,555. The bill still needs a final house vote and approval by the state senate.

The board voted in November to close eight schools with two elementaries closing in the 2026-27 school year. The closures are part of the plan outlined in what the district calls Destination District Redesign, which aims to address declining enrollment, falling birth rates and projected budget deficits.

Hernandez voted in favor of the closures, saying the move was necessary to cut the deficit.

“We’re in a lot better financial position than some of our counterparts, and we could not have done it if we had not closed those schools. We would have been $42 to $45 million in the hole,” Hernandez said.

Duran, 57,said he wants to avoid increasing taxes by making significant cuts at the administrative level and not issue future bonds.

Duran said he thinks a carefully thought out “DOGE” process – referring to the Department of Government Efficiency established by the President Donald Trump administration – could be implemented at EPISD.

“Elon Musk is doing a lot of cutting, but he’s not doing a lot of smart cutting and not a lot of pre-planning. He’s just doing it willy-nilly,” Duran said. “It’s kind of a DOGE process, but for EPISD, where everything’s thought out. The cuts are obviously there.”

He cited curriculum or instructional coaches as possible cuts, as well as evaluating central office positions.

“I would like to focus on zero-based budgeting and line item budgeting to make sure we’re able to see where all the money is going and where there are cuts that are possible,” Duran said.

Duran said he would look at every possible way to cut from the existing budget before considering a higher tax rate.

“We have to look at every single possible thing to cut that’s not going to hurt people, because once you hurt people, you hurt the local economy,” Duran said.

District 5 candidates on budget issues, tax increases

Milton, 44, said he does not want to increase the tax rate.

Milton said the district should be looking at selling unused properties to bring in more funds before considering a tax increase.

The El Paso City Council last year purchased two EPISD properties – the closed-down Bonham Elementary School campus for $4.76 million and the former Morehead Middle School for about $3.8 million.

Selling schools provides one-time revenue infusions for the separate sales, but does not provide continuous revenue streams for long-term budgetary needs.

Milton said high-paying positions at the administrative level and within the district’s police department should also be evaluated. He said there are some police officers earning more than teachers, which he said he disagrees with, though he did not provide specific names of officers or salaries.

“What’s so special about those individuals that they make more than our teachers, what are they doing differently than the other police officers?” Milton said.

Milton said he would also like to do a budget and analysis of where the money is going and find better ways to use the funding that they have to address the district’s needs.

“I believe the money is there. I don’t have access to the books and things of that nature, but we need to do a better job doing budget analysis,” he said. “Sell some of these properties, and then use that money to do what we need to do.”

EPISD’s financial documents including audits and adopted budget books are accessible on the district’s website. 

He said the only circumstance in which he would consider a tax increase is if it prevents having to lay off teachers. He also said if a tax increase was necessary, he would seek support from taxpayers by explaining in detail why the increase is necessary.

“I don’t want to cut teachers at all. I will cut administration (first),” Milton said.

Irrobali, 34, executive director of the El Paso Association of Contractors, is seeking his second term. He said he wants to protect teachers and campuses from budget constraints that may come up if he is reelected.

He also said he wants to develop and foster morale with employees since he does not know what the district will be able to do for them, financially.

The district’s current budget did not include pay increases, but trustees voted to give its roughly 7,200 employees a $500 stipend just before Christmas.

He said ways to improve teacher morale may be to eliminate cumbersome duties like filing reports, minimizing documentation and to look at ways to streamline processes so they can spend more time teaching.

Irrobali, who voted in favor of the school closures, said the district cannot go to taxpayers to ask for a tax increase until EPISD looks through its operations to fix what it is doing wrong. That, he said, includes continuing to evaluate the number of campuses versus the number of students and looking for ways to improve operations districtwide.

Irrobali was urged by community members  to recuse himself from the vote to close schools, which would have led to a tie vote,because of his position as executive director of the contractors association. Irrobali ultimately voted citing prior legal opinions that said there was no conflict of interest preventing him from voting.

“We really have to be smart and diligent stewards of the public dollar right now,” Irrobali said, adding he would consider a tax increase to avoid teacher layoffs.

Osterland, 48, like other candidates said addressing budget shortfalls should start with cutting high-paid administrative positions.

“I think that if we start at the top and work down, a lot of our deficit, or at least some of it, could be reduced,” Osterland said.

He said he understands the importance of every dollar going into the classrooms, facilities, teachers and staff.

Osterland said that while he does not have policy experience, he will approach the district’s budgetary problems with a “common sense” approach.

“I’m on the outside looking in, so there’s a lot of answers I really don’t have, and I am trying my best to find these answers,” Osterland said. “If I see a problem and an issue, I apply what I always do – common sense.”

He said he tries to find the cause and how to fix it, then come up with a plan to address the issue. He said once there is a plan he would want to engage the community to be transparent about how it will be resolved.

He also said the board needs to be more transparent about where money is being spent in order to rebuild trust with the community.

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