El Paso Schools Losing Millions Of Dollars To Truency

El Paso schools are once again taking a massive financial hit because too many students simply aren’t showing up. For the 2024-2025 school year, the El Paso Independent School District is projected to lose $25.9 million in state funding due to high truancy rates, a problem that’s been growing since the pandemic and still hasn’t returned to pre-2020 levels.

Recent audits of seven high schools uncovered 161,361 unexcused absences, costing those campuses alone about $9.8 million. Expand that district-wide, and the number of skipped classes jumps to over 426,000, with each missed day worth roughly $60 in state funding.

EPISD Vice President and Audit Committee Chair Dr. Jack Loveridge didn’t hold back about the seriousness of the problem. “We’re not seeing the results we need to see… The best place for a student is in school, and we really believe that this translates into learning loss as well,” he said. To find more quotes and more in-depth details, check out the article written by Julia Spencer of KFOX.

The Numbers Tell the Story
The audited high schools reported the following attendance rates: Coronado (90.4%), El Paso High (89.7%), Burges (88.6%), Andress (88%), Irvin (86.9%), Bowie (84.8%), and Jefferson (83.5%). The district-wide average sits at 91%, still short of the 94% goal. Each percentage point below target equals about $3 million in lost funds.

That gap isn’t just numbers on paper. Loveridge pointed out that if EPISD hit 94% attendance, it could erase its $6 million deficit and even leave a $3 million surplus, enough to cover the operating budgets of three schools.

How to Bring Students Back
So how can EPISD close the gap? Other Texas districts have reached attendance rates as high as 96%, and EPISD officials have been in talks with some of them to learn what’s working. Possible solutions include:

• Incentive Programs – Small rewards, raffles, or privileges for consistent attendance.

• Parent Engagement – Proactive outreach to families when absences start to build up.

• Targeted Support – Identifying students struggling with transportation, mental health, or academic issues before absences spiral.

• Community Partnerships – Bringing in local nonprofits or businesses to help with resources and motivation.

For now, corrective action plans are in place, but whether they’ll be enough to close the post-pandemic attendance gap and stop the financial bleeding remains to be seen.