EPISD construction costs report card

July 7, 2014

The Texas comptroller recently issued a report titled Public School Construction Costs that compared individual school districts from a construction cost perspective to state-wide averages.

How did we do?

The state-wide average cost per student for new construction of elementary schools was $17,456 for the 2007 to 2013 period.

The El Paso Independent School District averaged $20,965 for the same period.

The state average number of square feet per student was 135 while EPISD’s was 136.

That means that our new elementary schools cost 20% more than the state average.

Recommendations

The comptroller’s report contained two recommendations to reduce costs:

 Architectural prototypes (using a consistent design) for multiple campuses can mean savings in the design phase, on architectural fees and on purchasing (because the same design and materials are used, less time is needed to plan subsequent projects).

According to the Texas Association of School Boards, renovations cost 50-70 percent of a new building’s cost and can often meet the goals of a new structure.  School districts with older facilities or slower student growth can couple historic and civic considerations with the economic benefits of renovating existing schools or other facilities.

Why each of our schools needs to look unique is a mystery to me.  As to demolishing old schools and replacing them with new construction I suspect that what the district calls “deferred maintenance” is the culprit.

Favorable debt

On a more favorable note, the comptroller has issued this chart comparing EPISD’s debt to districts of similar size:

episddebt

It seems that we are in less debt than other districts.

It would be nice if EPISD would consider the comptroller’s cost saving suggestions.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

4 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
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Do it! I’ll tell you what “it” is later.

July 5, 2014

The Tuesday, June 17, 2014 meeting of the El Paso Independent School District board of managers contemplated changes to district high school graduation requirements.

From the board packet:

 EFFECTIVE AS OF THE 2014-15 SCHOOL YEAR …  A STUDENT MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE EQUIVALENCE OF AT LEAST 15 HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE EACH SEMESTER WHILE ENROLLED IN A DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL.

Maybe I should go back to school since I think that the appropriate word would have been “equivalent” instead of “equivalence”.

No mention was made as to how this would be administered or what would qualify as community service.

It seems to me that the board of managers should have decided what the rules are before issuing this mandate.

We deserve better

Brutus

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Independence

July 4, 2014

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.  Benjamin Franklin

Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.   John Stuart Mill

We deserve better

Brutus

4 Comments | City government, County Government, El Paso Independent School District, Federal Government, State Government | Permalink
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Things change

July 1, 2014

The tenure of our appointed EPISD board of managers cannot last forever.

The state law that allows the education commissioner to strip our elected board of their power (even after the voters elected some new members) only allows the appointed board of managers to operate for two years.

If my memory is correct the board of managers was appointed  December 6, 2012.

That means that there are only six more months before the board of managers should be dissolved.

Not quite so fast

Texas Education Code section 39.112 defines the rules:

At the direction of the commissioner but not later than the second anniversary of the date the board of managers of a district was appointed, the board of managers shall order an election of members of the district board of trustees.  The election must be held on a uniform election date on which an election of district trustees may be held under Section 41.001, Election Code, that is at least 180 days after the date the election was ordered.

Section 41.001 of the Election Code specifies the second Saturday in May of an odd numbered year.  That will be May 9, 2015.

Even though the commissioner made the appointments December 6, 2012 the board of managers was not sworn in until May 7, 2013.

What will happen?

Section 39.112 specifically starts the clock on the day they were appointed.  If they do the right thing and order an election for next May there should be time for political campaigns to be run.

If on the other hand they claim that they have not served their two years until May 7, 2015 we will have a problem.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

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

2014 high school rankings

June 20, 2014

The 2014 Children at Risk school rankings for Texas are out.

Their methodology is open to criticism, but at least it is consistent throughout the state.  You can read it here.

They ranked 1193 high schools with 1193 being the lowest performer and 1 being the highest according to their system.  A rank below 597 (1-596) places a high school in the top half of the state.

Their results for our El Paso county schools are:

2014-ElPaso-HSRank-Texas-High-School-Rankings

Congratulations to those involved with our “A”, “B”, and “C” schools.

As for the rest,

We deserve better

Brutus

 

 

8 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
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