EPISD Officially Decides to Close Four Schools

The El Paso Independent School District board of trustees have decided the fate of the four school proposed to close. Students of the elementary schools Alta Vista, Beall, Burleson and Schuster will have to say goodbye to their current school and move on to new ones. Here's how it's going to go down:

Alta Vista students will attend Coldwell Elementary School.
Beall students will attend Douglass Elementary School.
Burleson students will attend Zavala Elementary School.
Schuster students will attend Dowell Elementary School.

The closures are targeted to go into effect the 2019/2020 school year. The proposal to close the school was announced back in June with the school board citing declining attendance and revenue. According to KFOX, EPISD board president Trent Hatch said:

"Unfortunately, financially we are losing enrollment. Students are not enrolling to EPISD."

According to board officials, teachers at the affected schools will not lose their jobs.So far the only one that makes sense, and one that has actually been given an explanation was the Beall students switching to Douglass. Hatch said:

"Beall sits on a smaller piece of property. Douglass has a larger piece of property. Programs are similar. There are great things happening in both campuses, at the end of the day Douglass was selected due to size another factors within the equation."

But as for the other schools, it seems like it's just a matter of money. Many parents and students were present at the meeting, and were devastated at the ruling. Which is understandable, switching schools for students, especially at that age, is hard. Students will have to adjust to going to a different school with different students. Many even fear animosity between the students; Vivian Flores, fifth grade teacher at Beall Elementary feels it will just divide students. Ultimately, in the end, district officials say then end goal is to have the right amount of students at every campus.