EPISD Postpones Bond Election Talk

Residents in the El Paso Independent School District might not see a new bond measure on the November ballot. The district's trustees were planning on discussing the possibility of putting a nearly $250 million bond before voters this year, but because of the ongoing budget crisis that all government entities are facing because of the coronavirus pandemic, they decided last week to table talk of another multi-million dollar bond. There is no word on whether they might try again to put the bond before voters this year or not.

Back in 2016 district voters approved a $668 million bond that officials said would take care of only about half of EPISD's needs to upgrade facilities throughout the district. We've written extensively on district financial moves. Here are a few articles you can check out to refresh your memory about things the district has done with your money:

Which EPISD Schools Might Close Due to Low Enrollment - The district Puts Up 16 Properties For Sale

EPISD Is Distributing Laptops To Students

EPISD Installs Upgraded Systems In 55 Elementary Schools

Part of this year's possible bond election would be for "security upgrades". As you can see, 5 elementary schools have already gotten security upgrades, so I assume those schools would not need them.

Here is the home page for the 2016 Bond. You can check and see what projects were on tap to be taken care of and which schools were supposed to have what projects done. Here is the link to the 2020 proposed bond. You can see what would be part of the bond should it go before voters. I think that having the best educational experience possible is important for our kids, but I also think that making sure our tax money is being spent wisely is equally important. As taxpayers, we need to make sure that the district uses our money in the best possible way.