The El Paso Independent School District (or EPISD) is the largest school district serving El Paso, Texas (USA). Originally organized in 1883, it is currently the largest district in the Texas Education Agency's Educational Service Center (ESC) Region 19, as well as the largest district within the city of El Paso and El Paso County. The EPISD also provides public education to the children of U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Bliss. The district headquarters are located in El Paso.[3]
The EPISD is managed by a school board (called the Board of Trustees) composed of seven publicly elected school board trustees and a single superintendent. Each trustee represents one of the seven districts in the EPISD.[5]
Statistics
More than 63,000 students.
92 campuses.
With more than 9,000 employees, it is the largest employer in El Paso.
Covers more than 253 square miles (660 km2).
Estimated annual operating budget is $403-million.
In 1882, El Paso Independent School District was established, with Joseph Magoffin, Samuel Freudenthal and Edward Pew as the founding trustees and Calvin W. Esterly as the first superintendent.[6][7]
In 1889, the first kindergarten ever established in Texas was established at Alamo Elementary School in the EPISD.
In 1916, the first high school in the EPISD was established: El Paso High School.
In 2011, the district's superintendent Lorenzo Garcia was arrested by the FBI. He later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud- he stole money from the district and also had high school principals illegally kick students out of school and illegally change 10th graders to being listed as members of other grades, in order to cheat on the state's standardized tests.[16]
In 2012, the district's board of trustees were stripped of power by the Texas Education Agency, and oversight of the district was given to a TEA-appointed board of managers, because the trustees failed to stop Garcia's wrongdoing and failed to fire his co-conspirators after he was arrested.[16]
College Career and Technology Academy (formerly Sunset High School and School Age Parent Center)[19]
Delta Academy (alternative campus for juvenile detention center inmates)
Occupational Center
Regional Day School For The Deaf
San Jacinto Adult Learning Center
Telles Academy (disciplinary campus)
Young Women's STEAM Research & Preparatory Academy
Former campuses
Alamo Elementary School (in South-Central El Paso; closed 2005; initially slated to reopen following renovations, but consolidated with Hart Elementary School in 2011)[20]
Alta Vista Elementary School (in East-Central El Paso; closed in 2019 due to declining enrollment)
Beall Elementary School (in South-Central El Paso; closed in 2019 due to declining enrollment)
Bond Elementary School (in West El Paso; consolidated with Roberts Elementary and Lincoln Middle to form Haskins Elementary-Intermediate School in 2021)
Bonham Elementary School (in East El Paso; closed in 2021 and consolidated with MacArthur Elementary-Intermediate)
Bradley Elementary School (in Northeast El Paso;closed in 2021, consolidated with Fannin Elementary School at Torres Elementary School)
Burleson Elementary School (in South-Central El Paso; closed in 2019 due to declining enrollment)
Burnet Elementary School (in Northeast El Paso; closed in 2018 due to declining enrollment)
Crosby Elementary School (in Northeast El Paso; consolidated with Dowell Elementary and Schuster Elementary to form Duran Elementary in 2021)
Dowell Elementary School (in Northeast El Paso; consolidated with Crosby Elementary and Schuster Elementary to form Duran Elementary in 2021)
Dudley Elementary School (in West-Central El Paso; replaced by Mesita Elementary School in 1948)
Fannin Elementary School (in Northeast El Paso;closed in 2021, consolidated with Bradley Elementary School at Torres Elementary School)
Highland Elementary School (replaced by Moreno Elementary School in 2000)
Houston Elementary School (in East-Central El Paso; closed in 2010 due to declining enrollment, now the Houston School of Choice, a continuation high school)
Jones Elementary School (in West-Central El Paso; closed and razed in 1972 along with the Smeltertown neighborhood it served and in which it was located)
Lincoln Elementary School (in South-Central El Paso; moved and reconfigured to form Lincoln Middle School)
Lincoln Middle School (in West El Paso; consolidated with Bond Elementary and Roberts Elementary to form Haskins Elementary-Intermediate School in 2021)
Morehead Middle School
EPISD sold the building to the municipal government in 2023.[21]
Navarro Elementary School (in Ciudad Juarez since 1963 because it was located on land ceded to Mexico under the terms of the Chamizal Treaty. It now operates as a college preparatory school known as Colegio Bachilleres del Estado de Chihuahua, or COBACH).
Roberts Elementary School (in West El Paso; consolidated with Bond Elementary and Lincoln Middle in 2021 to form Haskins Elementary-Intermediate)
Roosevelt Elementary School (in South-Central El Paso; closed in 2006, consolidated with Aoy Elementary School)
San Jacinto Elementary School (closed in 1976, now San Jacinto Adult Learning Center)
Schuster Elementary School (in Northeast El Paso;closed in 2019 due to declining enrollment)
Vilas Elementary School (in West-Central El Paso; closed in 2016, now a satellite campus of Mesita Elementary School, Mesita Early Childhood Development Center at Vilas, which serves prekindergarten to first grade)
Dormant campuses
Wainwright Elementary School (in Northeast El Paso; mothballed since 2005; currently used as a science resource center)
Administrative offices
The renovated eight story building of the EPISD headquarters
Its current headquarters are in Downtown El Paso.[22] It includes two buildings: an 80,000-square-foot (7,400 m2),[23] eight story building that was acquired and a newly built 43,000-square-foot (4,000 m2), three story building.[24]
The district began leasing a property on the grounds of El Paso International Airport in 1963 to house its administrative headquarters. By the 2010s the City of El Paso desired the use of the property for airport expansion, but chose to defer the original 2014 expiration of the lease to at least December 31, 2019 so EPISD had time to find a new headquarters location.[25] In 2021 the current EPISD headquarters opened.[22] The district spent $3.2 million to buy the land and the building on it for the downtown headquarters.[25]
Emcee N.I.C.E.(Aulsondro "Novelist" Hamilton) is a Multi-Platinum musician, actor was a part of Lighter Shade of Brown the first Latin Rap group in the history. Produced iconic musicians such as Tupac, Nas, Aaron Hall & more. He is also associated with The 78th Academy Awards winning film Crash (2004 film) Soundtrack along with 7 more notable soundtracks and over 30 records recorded as a member of KansasCali. He attended Travis Elementary, Bassett Junior High School, Canyon Hills Junior High & Irvin High School before moving to Kansas[26][27]
Richard Ramirez, known as The Night Stalker, a serial killer who died of natural causes while awaiting execution in California, attended Jefferson High School but dropped out.
Debbie Reynolds attended Houston and Crockett Elementary Schools before her family moved to California.[28]
^"Contact the El Paso Independent School District Archived 2010-04-06 at the Wayback Machine." El Paso Independent School District. Retrieved on March 28, 2010.
^"2009 Accountability Rating System". Texas Education Agency. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015.
^"EPISD School Board Trustees". Archived from the original on December 14, 2007.
^Murphree, Rachel. "Library Research Guides: Borderlands: Masons Became Leaders in Texas, El Paso 20 (2001-2002)". epcc.libguides.com.
^Murphree, Rachel. "Library Research Guides: Borderlands: El Paso High School Remains Classic 20 (2001-2002)". epcc.libguides.com.
^"Bowie High School / Homepage". El Paso Independent School District. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007.
^"Austin High / Homepage". El Paso Independent School District.
^"Jefferson High School / Homepage". El Paso Independent School District. Archived from the original on May 14, 2008.
^"Burges High School - Burges 50th Anniversary". burgesmustangsalumni.myevent.com.
^"Irvin High School / Homepage". El Paso Independent School District.
^"Chapin High School / Homepage". El Paso Independent School District.
^ a b"El Paso Breaking News Sports Entertainment Lifestyle Opinion - El Paso Times". Archived from the original on January 22, 2013.
^"Microsoft Word - list-2003.doc" (PDF).
^ a b"Blue Ribbon Schools Program, Schools Recognized 1982-1983 Through 1999-2002 (PDF)" (PDF).
^Ortega, Monica. "School Information / Principal's Corner". College Career and Technology Academy. Retrieved October 15, 2019. CCTA, originally Sunset High School and School Age Parent Center, were merged in the 2014-2015 school year.
^"El Paso Breaking News Sports Entertainment Lifestyle Opinion - El Paso Times".[permanent dead link]
^Esquivel, Erika (September 19, 2023). "El Paso ISD approves sale of Morehead Middle School to City of El Paso". KFOX-TV. Retrieved March 18, 2024.
^ a bCarreon, Cristina (January 28, 2021). "EPISD administration to move into new downtown headquarters in 2021". El Paso Times. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
^"El Paso Independent School District Administrative Building". Huitt Zollars, Inc. (architectural firm). Retrieved June 25, 2022.
^"EPISD Administrative Complex". HB Construction. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
^ a b"EPISD Central Office Relocation to Downtown El Paso FAQ". El Paso Independent School District. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
^"Aulsondro Novelist Hamilton IMDB". Internet Movie Database. 2014.
^"Aulsondro Novelist Hamilton Discography". Discogs.com. 2013.
^"Debbie Reynolds - DIGIE". digie.org.
External links
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