el paso bond vote to determine fate of construction and renovation projects

Depending upon how voters respond, a school district in El Paso could soon be seeing the construction of three new schools.

Plans have long been in the works for the building of three new schools in the Ysleta Independent School District.

A proposed $425 million bond will fund the construction of new elementary schools in both the city’s Riverdale and Scotsdale neighborhoods.

A third project will see the construction of a new middle school in the Hanks neighborhood.

The proposed new schools were recommended by members of a Facilities Advisory Committee, a body made up of educators, parents, business leaders and others, trying to determine the district’s most important facility needs.

Also included in the big bond will be the renovation of the Dolphin Terrace Elementary School at 9790 Pickerel Drive and the modernization of the Bel Air High School at 731 N. Yarbrough Drive.

YISD officials say the bond will also be used to implement a series of refrigerated air conversions projects in schools throughout the district.

The third largest public school district in metro El Paso, YISD currently has sixty pre-K, elementary, middle, and high school facilities and an enrollment of more than 40,000 students.

The new construction projects, ironically, are the result of the district having a smaller enrollment than in years past.  YISD has had to close down and consolidate some facilities as a result.

Those consolidation efforts have led to the need for new facilities to house students coming together from various other schools.

In explaining the need for the new facilities, YISD Superintendent Xavier De La Torre remarked last summer to the El Paso Times:  “We are trying to really right-size the district.”

By Garry Boulard

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