Note to the Times

March 7, 2015

A copy of this email was sent to us.  We redacted the email address and phone numbers.

From: Dan Wever [mailto:xxxxx@xxx.xxx]
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2015 2:01 PM
To: ‘Lindsey Anderson’; ‘Bob Moore — Editor EPT’
Subject: Figures you might be able to use from TEA website

Lindsey these are a quick look at what a school brings in and what it costs the district to run it for 1 year.

Questions call xxx-xxxx.

These figures are for 2012-2013 last year available.

Enrollment = 62.884

Total Revenue All Funds, Local tax, State help, Federal help = $590,862,929

Therefore each student is worth $590,862,929 divided by 62,844 which is $9,396 to the EPISD

Let’s look at one of the South side schools  that has been named to close, Beall elementary.

The enrollment in Oct of 2013 was 480 students so how much money did these students bring into the EPISD  $9,396 times 480 = $4,510,117

So how much did it cost the EPISD to keep this school open for this year 2012-2013

This data is for school year 2011-2012 and it is the last year available so the figures are not a 100% a valid comparison but I can assure you that they are very close to the 2012-2013.

Expenditures per Student

                                                                Beall                      EPISD AVG.

Total Operating Expenditures       $7,443                        $8,360

Instruction                                         $5,499                        $5,008

Instructional Leadership                      $63                             $88

School Leadership                               $459                            $501

So we have a cost to EPISD to keep this school open of $3,572,640 or they made a profit of $937,477

Of course we know that the ADMINISTRATIVE costs are not included in the School Report Card (Expenditures per Student) and I guess this profit is not enough, so we need to put these children on busses and send them to a school that makes more profit.

Dw

Xavier share as you like

8 Comments | El Paso Independent School District, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Disappearing records

March 5, 2015

A reader contacted us wanting to know the name of the firm that has received the contract to do the architectural work for EPISD’s proposed new central office.

Our earlier post EPISD board out of line was written after having read the January 8, 2015 board materials.

Going back to the district’s web site we attempted to re-read the meeting documents.  We got this screen:

episdminutesmenu

There is no provision to find the January 8 meeting.

We then tried to use the general search feature to see if we could find the minutes and got this result:

episdsearch010815

Success!  The search provided a link to the minutes of the board meeting so we clicked on the link.  We got this:

episdnolonger

Clicking on the suggested link did not provide access to board meeting materials.

Whether this is deliberate or accidental,

We deserve better

Brutus

2 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Ask your school board candidates about this

March 1, 2015

This from Xavier Miranda:

The opportunity to authentically reform the education system of our children in El Paso is quickly approaching. Now that the proposal to close 22 schools in our district has been postponed, thanks largely to a letter issued by our Texas State Delegation, attention is focused on the transition to a democratically-elected school board of trustees.

Issues that need to be asked of school board candidates at upcoming forums should include the following:

Public Facility Corporation 
Realizing the likely demise of a School Bond or a Tax Ratification Election (TRE), the current Board of Managers approved the formation of a Public Facility Corporation, circumventing voter approval, to pay for the razing of district offices on Boeing, and subsequent construction in the Northeast, with the amount capped at $29 million.
A suggestion commonly heard among parents and educators, is to move district administrative operations to one of the buildings that the Jacobs Engineering Firm deemed under-capacity. 
Another suggestion is to move students from the numerous PORTABLE CLASSROOMS into the aforementioned buildings, and have district officials migrate into the portable units. To quote a parent, “After all, if students and teachers can function in such settings, so can administrators.”
The savings incurred would better be utilized on resources that directly impact our children.
Concerns abound regarding administration of the Public Facility Corporation:
Lastly, it would be greatly appreciated if Superintendent Juan Cabrera attend public functions associated with community input, such as the Beall Elementary Community meetings on potential closures, or the upcoming visitation of Vilas Elementary in the Sunset Heights neighborhood on March 7.  Invitations extended to shadow teachers and students have gone unanswered. As his $320,000+ a year contract stipulates in  2.1 t, and 6.6 m, community outreach and rapport is of essence.
Upcoming emails will convey curriculum issues, El Paso Chamber of Commerce endorsements, and school board candidate forums.

 

2 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Thoughts about the new central office

March 1, 2015

Wanting to see what other school districts have done with their central offices, we started looking around on the web.

We started with the San Antonio Independent School district and could not find a link to the location of their central office on their web page so we tried to look up the locations of some departments that are likely centralized and found this:

Attendance Accountability–1700 Tampico, Room 215 (in a school building)

Curriculum Management Department–406 Barrera Street (in a portable building)

Facilities Services Division–1702 N. Alamo, Suite 307

Human Resources–141 Lavaca (don’t know how to describe this building so see for yourself)

lavacastreet

Purchasing–1215 Austin Street (stand alone building)

It does not appear as though the district has one location for it’s administrative offices.  We did not specifically pick these departments, they were the first (and only) ones that we tested.

The Tucson Unified School District administration offices were built in 1942 and have been added to as the district has grown.

When the Ysleta district wanted new central offices years ago they bought a shopping center instead of designing and building a new complex.

There are several large industrial facilities available in the area.  Wouldn’t it be more cost effective to buy and remodel one of those?  Evidently the idea of using a school that they will be closing is out of consideration.  The number one excuse is lack of parking.  Most of us would convert the playground to parking spaces.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

 

 

7 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Who needs facts?, we have the power

February 28, 2015

The board of managers of the El Paso Independent School District approved the creation of a public facility corporation that they will use to finance the new central office.

Creating the corporation allows the district to issue bond debt without seeking approval of the voters.

It is interesting to point out that the district did not issue a contract for design of the central office until January 8, 2015.  At this point they do not know what the facility will look like or what it will cost.

Will the board of managers sell bonds before they leave office after the May elections and before the cost of the facility is known?

We deserve better

Brutus

2 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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