EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Canutillo Independent School District Board of Trustees postponed making a decision on Tuesday, Feb. 27 on whether to merge Davenport Elementary School with Childress Elementary.
The school board also asked Superintendent Dr. Pedro Galaviz to develop different cost-savings alternatives for them to consider later this spring.
The district had proposed to close the Davenport campus in Westway and to transfer all students to Childress in response to a projected $7.8-million budget deficit for the upcoming 2024-25 academic year.
Davenport has been impacted by low enrollment and the building is used at less than 50 percent of its intended capacity, according to the district.
“We understand that closing a school is an emotional and drastic response to our budget deficit, and we want to make sure that we do right by the Westway community by still remaining good stewards of the taxpayers’ money,” said Board President Armando Rodriguez. “We have the opportunity to capitalize on opportunities for growth and we want to make sure that any decision we make takes those opportunities into consideration.”
The district says the deficit was caused by “inaction of the Texas Legislature to adopt a school funding bill,” rising insurance premiums and inflation.
The district says it has implemented “cost-saving measures” that included a “strategic” hiring freeze, the cutting of administrative budgets and the elimination of several jobs at its central office.
The district also says it has been dealing with a drop of enrollment from a lack of schools in growing neighborhoods in the Upper Valley and Northwest El Paso.
District officials met last week with parents and families that live in the community served by Davenport Elementary and told them they were considering closing the school at the end of school year. That move would save the district $1.5 million a year, the district said.
Board members said the closure of Davenport remains a possibility as the district moves forward with its budget process for the next school year, but asked district administration to come back with alternatives for the trustees to consider later this spring before making a final decision.
The district has also planning a bond election for May. Included in that are plans to rebuild and relocate Davenport to the “fast-growing Enchanted Hills subdivision in Northwest El Paso.”
Superintendent Galaviz said he will study other options, to include keeping Davenport open until the new campus in Enchanted Hills is complete if the bond is approved.
However, he told the board that keeping the Westway campus open would require the district to continue operating at a deficit.
“The unfortunate reality is that our current model, which includes operating Davenport in Westway with a building that is half empty, is simply not sustainable,” Galaviz said. “It’s imperative that we take action or face the possibility of the district running out of reserves and going bankrupt.”
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