It looks like the EPISD board is having some internal dissension about where their new central office should be.
Under the state appointed board of managers the board chose to hire an architectural firm to design a building to be located on Trans Mountain.
The current board recently changed that and is moving forward with the purchase of land and a building on North Stanton.
Now two of the board members have requested that the issue be reconsidered at the Tuesday, April 18, 2017 board meeting.
From the background packet:
(To afford greater transparency for public consumption; to make clear that BEST VALUE for the public and EPISD has been considered for this costly expenditure and that the move will benefit and support current EPISD operational requirements and those of the several decades to follow; and, to have an environmental impact study/survey or the like ,with a statement furnished about the two (2) aforementioned properties that shall be provided to a committee of citizens for final relocation determination.) Presenter: Charles Taylor
Group Approval
MOTION: I move that the Board approve the requested withdrawal; commission an Environmental Impact Study/Survey, or the like, to seek a BEST VALUE statement; appoint a committee of citizens from the 7- single-member Districts to assist with the BEST VALUE determination; and, then provide the EPISD constituency with that BEST VALUE Board decision.
Hmm. Public input? Best value?
We’ll see how that goes.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Let’s hope they don’t forget the Planetarium in all of this.
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If they want or need to GROW, in the future, then the location SHOULD NOT be Downtown or Stanton Street.
It SHOULD have vacant land next to it and plenty of free parking and access in and out and to major thoroughfares.
Probably best . . . .Northeast / around Community College, Transmountain and the North-South Freeway.
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Buy Sunland Park Mall. Lot’s of parking. Easy access to Northeast and Central.
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Look at all of the upcoming empty buildings in El Paso: JCPenny’s K-Marts,Sears…
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This is all window dressing. It’s as if someone decided transparency might be good if they plan to run for another, higher office.
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EPISD will not relocate to Northeast simply because makes the most sense. They enjoy complicating situations.
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It might simply be that the top EPISD executives live on the west side or near downtown and want the minimum commute time. But then commute time isn’t an issue for the superintendent because we are also paying for a home office at his residence.
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I’m sure that any distance is not a problem. If Cabrera lived in Dallas, Dori Fennenbock and company would pay round-trip everyday. With all the other FREE stuff, money HE gets from OUR pockets, would think that the EPISD probably GIVES him $5-10,000 per MONTH for gasoline to go with his FREE car we are FORCED to give him.
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Of course they have got to add MILLIONS$$$ to the cost, build a show place that’s “appropriate” for THEM. They have to find things, ways to blow-off that BILLION$$$ Bond money. What else they going to do with it all? Give Cabrera MORE pay raises, benefits??
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How about Cohen Stadium? Right off the freeway, lots of parking, city owned already. Or how about the old Northgate Mall? Again,
a mile of so from freeway, bus stop right there, lots of parking.
We ain’t building the Taj Mahal.
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The final location will be the one that maximizes two things:
1. The money that will go to friends of the Superintendent and school board members in the construction industry
2. The money and other benefits (read – political) that will go to friends of the Superintendent and the school board members in the local community (and also their friends from out of town).
What the superintendent and the school board will NOT take into account in this extremely important and generation spanning decision are the following:
1. Saving tax payer’s money.
2. Any thought as to expansion or future operations beyond their very limited time in EPISD.
3. Making any sort of legal or financial sense (ie., Why build on land that EPISD already owns!?, No… Let’s LEASE land so that we can spend MORE money…)
4. Student well being or convenience
5. Convenience of location for parents, business partners, etc.
6. ANY considerations for employee convenience or well being!
7. ANY ideas that don’t come from the immediate “Inner Elite Circle” (you know, the one’s firmly ensconced behind closed locked security doors so as to minimize any contact with the “little people” of the district?).
By the way, they supposedly paid over $1 million to that architectural firm to design the “new Ed Center” for the Transmountain property. They had all the departments submit detailed write-ups about their space and infra-structural needs for a new Ed Center. They discussed “open” office floor plans and aesthetics and functionality. they had a big meeting in the planetarium all about it [a meeting this girl attended personally]. a LOT of EPISD man-hours went into that design.
Then, of course, they scrapped it all. After all… It’s not REAL money, right? It’s just tax payer money. A million here – a million there. whatever, right?
Oh, and the planetarium, Anon? I was in that part of the building last week. It’s still closed. No idea if they are going to hire anyone for it. I know teachers who are complaining about it. But, they complain quietly as they fear for their jobs.
Hundred of millions of dollars just handed to them by a duped public.
And, what is the result?
Millions flushed down the toilet, constantly changing “plans” for the new Ed Center, no “plans” for continuing our planetarium, communities to be disrupted, changing the entire way we DO school (K-8 versus elementary/middle school) for no real reason beyond a reduction of personnel, hyper focus on new age programs that have no proof of doing anything to improve learning, and an administration shifting and re-organizing so often no one knows who is really in charge of who or what!
But, there is a bright side! Our superintendent is paid more than the President of the United States and got 80% more raise than anyone else in the district!
– Benevelous
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I agree with most of your comments, except the combo schools, there will no decrease in personnel, it costs on ave. 1 million dollars a year to maintain a single campus, now we have two campuses in one. Studies have proven that test scores have improved at these campuses, the transition from elementary to middle is seamless because the teachers know all the students. And as a bonus if you have siblings, the oldest, friends,etc. look out for the younger ones.
EPISD is in the dark ages and it shows.
Just look at SISD and look at all the success they have there. They started this trend a decade ago and the district continues to strive..
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Cohen Stadium. This town needs a futile bold move like breath. We need to live our lives in broad strokes. No more half steps.
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