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Students ask board to reallocate EPISD funds to testing support, fine arts and club travel
Summary
Student presenters asked trustees to review campus spending (they cited roughly $6.3 million across campuses), propose reducing EPIC Plaza and redundant school-supplies spending, and redirect savings to fine arts, club travel and test supports to increase equitable access.
A group of student representatives presented recommendations to the El Paso ISD board to review and reallocate student-facing district funds.
"The district allocates over $6,300,000 across all campuses," said Marcela Garcia, a student representative for Jefferson Silva High School, noting that much of that budget has already been spent. Students suggested the district evaluate EPIC Plaza subscription costs, school-supplies allocations and club-travel funding and consider redistributing savings to fine arts, SAT/TSIA supports and club participation assistance.
Presenters recommended three testing methods for measuring the impact of reallocated funds: student impact on learning and access, whether spending benefits multiple campuses (with attention to higher-need sites), and accountability measures to determine if spending produces clear results such as competition advancement or increased participation in clubs.
Students also described burdens on competitive and fine-arts students who depend on booster clubs to cover instrument repairs, travel and related expenses and asked for more equitable district support.
Trustees praised the idea of involving students in budget review and asked administration for the underlying numbers necessary to model redistributions. One trustee requested the presenters provide exact figures so staff can evaluate feasibility during budget planning.
Next steps: trustees asked administration to supply the requested budget figures and consider bringing students into a budget-review process.
