Kurt Micklo lost interest in academics after he failed to make the basketball team as a sophomore at Chapin High School. Soon after, he fathered a son and began to work full time, which put him further behind in his studies.

A counselor finally advised him during his junior year that he should withdraw and try to earn a GED. He dropped out and 鈥� through hard work 鈥� found professional success as a general manager of a subcontracting logistics company. However, the lack of a high school diploma haunted him. He wants one to give his family 鈥� especially his mother 鈥� another reason to be proud of him.

A busy work and family schedule have kept him from returning to school, but the flexibility of a new state program aimed at people aged 18 and older without a high school diploma will allow him to earn a diploma and a college career and technical education, or CTE, credential for programs such as health care, welding or computer science at the same time.

The concept of Opportunity High School Diploma was part of House Bill 8, which the state Legislature passed in 2023. The state funneled about $2 million into this program to help the approximately including about 30,000 adult El Pasoans, without a diploma to earn the academic credits most of them will need to acquire higher-paying jobs. The program is scheduled to launch in spring 2026.

鈥淚f I could juggle it, I鈥檇 be pretty interested鈥� in the program, said 34-year-old Micklo, a father of three ages 15, 10 and 5. He is the general manager of three warehouses, two in El Paso and one in Laredo, Texas, as well as four sites near the international ports of entry with Mexico in El Paso, Tornillo and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, were commodities are offloaded.. 鈥淚t would make my stepfather (a retired educator) and my mother happy if I earned my high school diploma.鈥�

El Paso Community College is one of five community college districts in the state selected for the design and implementation phases of this program. The other institutions in the design phase are Alamo Colleges District, Austin Community College, Dallas College and San Jacinto College near Houston.

They work under the direction of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The board will review the instructional outcomes and performance expectations that the college collaborators created during an October meeting. Once finalized, the college faculty will begin to work with school districts to design the curriculum.

The program is flexible for students who probably work full time and have family obligations. Courses would have suggested timelines, but students would turn in assignments as their schedule allowed through the end of the term.

Micklo, a Northeast resident, said the promised flexibility is the only reason he might consider the program. As for his credential, he said he would need to review EPCC鈥檚 career and technical education options. The college offers more than 100 career programs such as HVAC, or heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and electrical, automotive or diesel technologies.

Students will be co-enrolled in competency-based high school curriculum such as math, civics, sciences and communication, and a career and technical workforce program. Competency based courses are focused more on a students鈥� mastery of a skill or subject than the amount of time spent in a classroom.

Isela Casta帽贸n Williams, professor and coordinator of EPCC鈥檚 teacher preparation programs, is in charge of the college鈥檚 13-member team. She called the project a 鈥渕onumental task鈥� because of its scope and uniqueness. She said her team, and its counterparts, played a critical role in the design phase.

鈥淔aculty at EPCC are very innovative,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think that my colleagues have approached this process with a great deal of enthusiasm. We鈥檙e always looking to provide better services and educational experiences to the community we serve.鈥�

EPCC faculty advocated for the program to be designed to accommodate English Second Language and English Language Learner populations, a THECB spokesman said in a July 1 statement. He said last year that the board selected EPCC for the project鈥檚 design phase because of its border insights, and because its CTE degrees and credentials are in line with the program.

While the state wants to attract students aged 18 and older, EPCC officials will aim for people 25 and older so as to not compete with K-12 school districts that have their own dropout recovery programs. EPCC, which will offer the program at its five campuses, expects some of the program鈥檚 younger students to come from rural areas outside El Paso.

Steven E. Smith, vice president of Instruction and Workforce Education at EPCC, said the state will provide funds to the colleges to cover tuition for initial cohorts. He expects the first groups will range from 30 to 50 students and scale up from there.

鈥淲e think this is a big market in El Paso, and I think once the word starts to get out, that will grow tremendously,鈥� Smith said.

The administrator said that he would work on ways to market the program later this month with the college鈥檚 External Relations, Communication & Development Division. He said the college would work with school district partners to build lists of potential OHSD students.

鈥淎s you might imagine, that is a pretty difficult population to identify and reach out to because they are not in the system anymore,鈥� Smith said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

A nonprofit group that grew El Paso鈥檚 charter school network and invested in teachers in traditional public school systems is receiving a $10 million grant as it marks its 10th anniversary.

The Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development, or CREEED, will receive a $10 million grant from the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation, which previously gave $12 million to the organization.

A key part of CREEED鈥檚 mission has been to increase the number and percentage of El Paso County students completing a college degree or credential, said Woody Hunt, the El Paso businessman and philanthropist whose family foundation has provided most of CREEED鈥檚 funding since 2014. That has meant changing expectations and measurements of success, he said.

鈥淎n academic’s going to say, 鈥榃e’re doing a great job given the student population we have and given their economic impairment challenges.鈥� The business community is going to say, 鈥榃e鈥檝e got to get out of this environment. The way we’re going to get out is we’re going to have to not let that be an excuse, and we’re going to have to outperform the parental income levels,鈥欌�� Hunt said.

He said a number of El Paso schools have shown over the past decade that students from predominantly low-income backgrounds can out-perform students from wealthier districts across the state. That has required a commitment from the business community and school leaders, Hunt said.

A major early focus of CREEED was expanding the number of charter schools in El Paso. But Hunt said a number of factors 鈥� particularly a declining student population in El Paso 鈥� may mean charters will play a more limited role in El Paso education than originally planned.

Charter school investments

In 2018, CREEED provided , a charter school network that began in South Texas, to El Paso County. That effort continues to draw criticism from those who say that the expansion of charter schools in the region drew funding from and undermined traditional public school systems.

鈥淲hat they want to do is have business drive what is taught and what is created in terms of products coming out of the school system,鈥� said Ross Moore, president of the El Paso Federation of Teachers and Support Personnel, a union in the El Paso Independent School District.

Moore also said CREEED has amplified the emphasis on student testing, which 鈥渇ocused more classroom time on testing or test prep than on learning and developing critical thinking skills.鈥�

Hunt said expanding charter schools was necessary for two primary reasons 鈥� to make El Paso more attractive to businesses looking to move to El Paso from areas with extensive charter school networks, and to push El Paso traditional public schools to improve from additional competition.

鈥淚 think that competition, which we’re all used to in the private sector, is generally beneficial,鈥� he said.

Hunt noted that El Paso鈥檚 traditional public school districts are now open enrollment districts and competing with each other for students, much as charter schools compete for those students.

Texas Education Agency data shows that El Paso students attending school outside their home districts are as likely to go to another traditional school district as a charter school.

TEA records show that about 15,000 El Paso County students 鈥� about 9% of all students in the county 鈥� were enrolled at eight charter school systems last year. Hunt acknowledged that falls short of CREEED鈥檚 expectations of charter school enrollment.

鈥淲e’re behind that and that’s all attributable to where IDEA is versus their original plan,鈥� he said.

IDEA Public Schools is the largest charter system in El Paso, with about 5,900 students last year. TEA has been investigating IDEA鈥檚 statewide operations since 2021 over allegations of improper spending, and earlier this year to help oversee IDEA.

鈥淭hey were expected to do 20 schools and 10 campuses (in El Paso), and they’re half of that, 10 schools and five campuses. We still have expectations that they will resume, but it hasn’t happened yet,鈥� Hunt said.

Moore offered a different explanation for charter school enrollment struggles.

鈥淏ecause those that do go to charters, more often than not, have a bad experience despite the publicity, and they share with their friends. And honestly, the school districts have been fighting back. Not as much as I’d like them to, but they have been fighting back,鈥� he said.

Public school investments

Both Hunt and CREEED鈥檚 CEO, Eddie Rodriguez, said an important step for the organization and educators was defining successful school achievement.

A decade ago, El Paso school districts touted the number of students who scored at least 鈥渁pproaches standards鈥� on state tests, they said. Now, the districts focus on the number of students meeting or exceeding the statewide standards set on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR tests.

鈥淚 think one of the things that’s happened over the 10 years is the recognition from the standpoint of the leadership in our region 鈥� I’m talking about the academic leadership, superintendents 鈥� that, no, we’re going to measure ourselves against the ‘meets’ or the grade level standard. So I think in that respect, we can think of the last 10 years as a positive movement,鈥� Rodriguez said.

Hunt said the focus on students 鈥渁pproaching鈥� standards was misguided.

鈥淭hat really had no correlation to post-secondary success, whereas meeting standards or mastering standards 鈥� could have a correlation there with post-secondary success,鈥� he said.

Hunt and Rodriguez said El Paso鈥檚 traditional public schools had been closing long-standing achievement gaps with the state averages until the COVID pandemic closed in-person schooling for parts of two school years starting in 2020. Student test results showed the gap widening again in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, though the gap narrowed the past couple of years.

CREEED鈥檚 investments in public schools have focused on improved teacher training, expanding the number of teachers qualified to teach classes that allow students to earn college credit in high school, improving parent engagement, and getting more students to take and pass Algebra I in eighth grade instead of the traditional ninth grade.

The TEA also now is pushing the teaching of Algebra I to eighth grade.

鈥淚 think the reality is that we started in that direction before the state did. And so as a consequence, I think that that speaks well to the recognition (by El Paso schools) that this is something that needs to be done,鈥� Rodriguez said.

The future for CREEED, El Paso education

A common outcome driving CREEED鈥檚 investments has been getting more El Paso students to earn a college degree or credential after completing high school. Historically, El Paso has had the highest rates in the state of students who enroll in college after high school, but the lowest rates of students completing college.

鈥淪o you’ve got this question: What happened here? Are you turning out graduates that want to go on to post-secondary but haven’t been prepared to go on?,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淥r do you have graduates that want to go on, but because of family circumstances, family support income, are unable to sustain their post-secondary to completion? Or do you have a job market that doesn’t have the right pricing signals that’s telling someone, if I stay in school, I complete, I can translate that into a monetary uptick on my financial circumstances?鈥�

Hunt believes all those factors play a role and have to be addressed. Improving educational attainment levels is crucial if El Paso is to be economically competitive with other areas, including other border communities, he said.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for El Paso County schools in the coming years will be declining enrollment. The number of children born last year to El Paso County residents was 21% below the number a decade earlier, according to state records.

Declining enrollment will reduce state funding. That will increase the need for schools 鈥� whether charters or traditional school districts 鈥� to compete with each other for a shrinking number of students.

鈥淚 think the open enrollment (for traditional school districts) will probably reduce the growth of charters. I think going to open enrollment at our traditional public schools is forcing more competition,鈥� Hunt said. 鈥淚 see that all being positive and really accomplishing the same thing as a charter system would do.鈥�

Hunt said that with increasing competition among traditional school districts, 鈥渃harters, instead of being 15 or 20% of the student population, end up at 10% or something like that.鈥�

Rodriguez said in the next decade, CREEED will focus on institutionalizing increased college completion 鈥� whether technical certificates, associate degrees, or four-year degrees 鈥� as the goal for El Paso鈥檚 education system, from the youngest grade levels through college.

That will make El Paso 鈥� and El Pasoans 鈥� more competitive for the higher skilled and higher paying jobs of the mid-21st century, he said.

鈥淭he objective from our standpoint is we want to make sure that in these next 10 years, we really establish this process as so instrumental to what makes our community and our society work that people take that as an accepted component,鈥� Rodriguez said.

Disclosure: The Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Economic Development and the Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation are financial supporters of El Paso Matters. Financial supporters play no role in El Paso Matters鈥� journalism. The news organization鈥檚 policy on editorial independence can be found .

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

El Paso Independent School District middle schoolers will be automatically enrolled in an advanced math class this school year, with the plan of getting nearly all eighth graders enrolled in Algebra 1 by the 2025-26 school year.

This comes as school districts throughout the state ramp up advanced math class enrollment for middle schoolers to comply with a new law intended to get more eighth graders enrolled in Algebra 1 鈥� a course most Texas students have taken in ninth grade.

Senate Bill 2124, passed during the 2023 legislative session, requires schools to enroll students who performed in the top 40% in their fifth-grade math assessment into advanced math in sixth grade starting the 2024-25 school year, to prepare them for the high school level course.

The law also requires schools to track performance and enrollment for students in advanced math classes, and allows parents to opt their children out of taking them.

EPISD plans to go beyond the state’s requirements, hoping to give more students the opportunity to take calculus in high school 鈥� a class that is usually required to get a college degree in math or science.

鈥淚f students don鈥檛 take algebra in the eighth grade, it鈥檚 very difficult to get to calculus by their senior year. The benefit of having everybody exposed to algebra in eighth grade is that it opens that door to more advanced math classes,鈥� Jason Long, 贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 executive director of advanced academics,聽 told El Paso Matters.

Still, some worry 贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 goal may take more than one school year to accomplish successfully.

鈥淭hey’re not going to be ready for it. It’s going to be setting kids up for failure,鈥� El Paso American Federation of Teachers President Ross Moore told El Paso Matters.

Moore said he was not aware of 贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 plan before being approached by El Paso Matters.

Roughly 30% of eighth graders in the district took Algebra 1 during the 2023-24 school year, Long said.

Meanwhile, some El Paso school districts have already reached or surpassed the state鈥檚 goal.

About 40% of sixth graders attending the Ysleta Independent School District took advanced math during the 2023-24 school year, and that鈥檚 expected to reach 50% this coming school year, YISD Chief Academic Officer Brenda Chacon said.

Roughly 28% of eighth graders in YISD were enrolled in Algebra 1 in 2023-24, according to Texas Education Agency data compiled by the El Paso nonprofit Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development 鈥� or CREEED.

The Socorro Independent School District had 96% of its eighth graders enrolled in Algebra 1, the data shows.

The district aims to have all its students take the class in middle school with exceptions for those who transferred from another district or were opted out by their parents.

For the past two school years, SISD had the top five schools with the highest in El Paso County.

These include Hernando, Montwood, Ensor, Antwine and Puentes middle schools for the 2023-24 school year.

SISD鈥檚 assistant superintendent of schools, Enrique Herrera, credited the district鈥檚 decade-long initiative to get more students into advanced math for this accomplishment.

鈥淎 lot of the success has happened because of how we鈥檝e coordinated our curriculum,鈥� Herrera told El Paso Matters. 鈥淔or the most part, we try to prep sixth graders with honors math, unless parents want to opt out of it, but they start getting that rigor in sixth grade. They’re really doubling up in seventh and eighth grade, which then prepares them for the algebra that they’ll experience as eighth graders.鈥�

Meanwhile, EPISD and the Clint Independent School District had the bottom five performing campuses: Bobby Joe Hill and Tinajero pre-K to eighth-grade schools, and Estrada, Guillen and Horizon middle schools.

How EPISD plans to implement Algebra 1 for eighth graders

EPISD already offered Algebra 1 and advanced math in middle school, which it calls honors courses, to certain students.

鈥淎ll the pre-K through eighth-grade schools had it, but it was either at a parent’s request or a teacher鈥檚 recommendation,鈥� Long said.

Now EPISD plans to reach the state’s 40% goal and will enroll all eighth graders at seven of its schools into Algebra 1 starting in August, as part of a pilot program.

This includes Brown, Canyon Hills, Charles, Guillen and Wiggs middle schools, and the Bobby Joe Hill and Tinajero pre-K to eighth-grade schools.

鈥淭hese pilot campuses already started working with their seventh-grade students to prep them for the eighth-grade algebra,鈥� Long said.

Long said the district plans to have all its eighth graders take algebra by the 2025-26 school year, with exceptions for students who transferred from another school district and were not enrolled in advanced math the previous year.

To ensure all students are prepared for these classes, Long said students who struggle with algebra may have to take two math courses in what鈥檚 called a double block 鈥� two periods that provide more instructional time.

SISD implemented a similar schedule that required students to take an intervention class along with their regular math course.

EPISD students also will be able to get help during an intervention and enrichment period known as What I Need, or WIN.

Long said the period works 鈥渁lmost like an elective鈥� that allows students who are struggling with their classes to get extra support.

贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 when it was first started in the 2023-24 school year after the district in order to implement it eliminated a policy requiring elementary school students to take physical education daily.

The debate over eighth-grade algebra

As lawmakers and educators around the country look into ways to close achievement gaps in education, a debate has brewed about when students should take algebra and who has access to advanced math classes.

Some states have drastically different approaches.

In Texas, lawmakers, education advocates and business leaders have pushed for more students to take part in advanced classes to prepare more students to pursue college and enter STEM careers.

鈥淓ighth-grade algebra is the gateway to taking advanced math in high school. Taking college-level math courses in high school is predictive of higher rates of postsecondary success,鈥� said Gabe Grantham, policy advisor for Texas 2036.

The organization is a nonpartisan Dallas-based think tank that uses research to inform public policy changes.

Students who take college-level math courses in high school are six times more likely to complete college compared to their peers. Completing Algebra 1 in eighth grade has also been linked to higher wages.

In California, lawmakers decided students would need to wait until high school to take Algebra 1 in hopes of addressing inequities in education.

鈥淲e know that students of color, primarily black and brown students, and students from low-income backgrounds have lower test scores because the opportunities that they have available to them are not as good as their peers. And so because their test scores are lower they’re going to be less likely to be given the opportunity to take algebra in eighth grade, or if they are pushed into algebra early, they might not be as prepared for it as some of their peers,鈥� Andrew McEachin, senior research director for the Educational Testing Service Research Institute, told El Paso Matters.

ETS develops and administers educational assessments, including the California High School Exit Exam.

McEachin agreed that eighth-grade algebra can serve as a gateway course to get students into college, but noted schools need to start early to ensure students are prepared for it.

鈥淭he framing should be around a successful opportunity for students, not so much that they just added or took it. What that means is that they’ve been set up for success for that course in eighth grade, and that likely is going to start from kindergarten or the first time they entered the district,鈥� McEachin said when asked about 贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 goal.

conducted by the E3 Alliance found that the bottom 60% of performers in fifth-grade math were less successful in completing Algebra I in eighth grade.

E3 Alliance is a Central Texas based collaborative non-profit that aims to transform education through data driven initiatives.

Students who do not demonstrate proficiency in assessments should not be placed in advanced math until they receive the proper support, said Jennifer Cavazos Saenz, E3 Alliance senior director of communications and policy.

鈥淭exas school districts that have implemented this approach have seen dramatic drops in student performance and outcomes,鈥� Cavazos Saenz said.

Moore agreed it may take more preparation.

鈥淚t’s not ready unless they have good solid backing, they do it in an incremental basis, there is a training plan, personnel aspects have been brought out, and teachers aren’t being told on the first day back, 鈥榊ou’re not teaching eighth-grade math anymore, you’re teaching algebra,鈥欌�� Moore said.

EPISD leaders said they have implemented a comprehensive approach 鈥渨hich includes tutoring for students and additional support for teachers to ensure success for all.鈥�

鈥淭he district is fully staffed with highly qualified and certified teachers who are eager to kickstart this new opportunity. EPISD stands firm in its commitment to supporting teachers and students guaranteeing the success of this Algebra for All offering,鈥� EPISD spokesperson Ernie Chacon said in a statement.

Correction: Because of incorrect information provided by the Ysleta Independent School District, an earlier version incorrectly stated the percentage of eighth-grade students enrolled in Algebra 1 in 2023-24.

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As school districts across Texas 鈥� including El Paso 鈥� prepare to set their budgets for the 2024-25 school year, many are expecting their expenses to outweigh their revenue, leaving them with a deficit.

Despite the state’s multi-billion dollar surplus, lawmakers failed to increase school funding during the 2023 legislative session after Gov. Greg Abbott tied public education dollars to a controversial voucher program that would have allowed parents to pay for private school using state funds.

Now with pandemic-era relief set to expire in September, districts are scrambling to address a budget crisis by cutting staff, closing schools and eliminating programs.

Some like the have opted to ask voters to increase taxes through a bond measure, in the hopes of increasing enrollment and bringing in more revenue.

Others like the and independent school districts are tightening their belts by eliminating vacant positions and exploring ways to save money. The is looking into closing schools to avoid any future budgetary woes.

Most are unlikely to give raises to teachers or staff in the coming school year.

Most El Paso school districts are expected to approve their budgets for the 2024-25 school year in mid- to late June.

To find out more about how Texas school districts got into this situation, El Paso Matters spoke to two school finance experts: Tiffany Dunne-Oldfield, deputy executive director of the Texas Association of School Boards, and Bob Popinski, senior director of policy for Raise Your Hand Texas.

TASB is a nonprofit organization that provides assistance and training to school boards, and Raise Your Hand Texas is a statewide nonprofit focused on policy reform to improve public education.

El Paso Matters: Why are so many Texas schools expecting a budget deficit next school year?

Dunne-Oldfield: 鈥淪everal factors are contributing to the rise in school district budget shortfalls as districts are preparing their budgets for next year. The Texas Legislature has not increased the basic allotment 鈥� the main component of student funding 鈥� since 2019, despite inflationary double-digit price increases.

In fact, legislators left almost $4 billion in additional funding on the table because they could not agree on a school voucher bill. That stagnant per-pupil funding coupled with new mandates, such as the requirement to have a commissioned peace officer on every campus, and ongoing funding shortages, like the statewide $2.3 billion gap in special education funding, are exacerbating school district budget woes.鈥�

Popinski: 鈥淭he legislature had the ability to change the funding structure of how much flowed to school districts last legislative session. They had $33 billion in surplus funds and another $24 billion in the rainy day fund. The legislature did not act on funding our schools up to the level that it needs to be.

Currently, we are ranked in the bottom 10 in the country in per student funding. That’s about $4,000 below the national average. We pay our teachers about $8,500 below the national average. 鈥� So all of that wrapped up is really the perfect storm for districts facing these big budget shortfalls. They’re having to adopt deficit budgets. They’re having to cut programs and in some cases, they’re having to shutter schools. While it’s different in every district it鈥檚 reaching almost everyone in the state.鈥�

El Paso Matters: Why might a district with declining enrollment be expecting a deficit?

Dunne-Oldfield: 鈥淭he state funds schools based on student average daily attendance. Fewer students means less funding. Districts seeing a decline in enrollment will be hit particularly hard by the state鈥檚 failure to help schools keep up with inflation, improve student safety measures, or adequately provide for students receiving special education services.

鈥淐onsider that school districts still need to keep the lights on, buses running, and their buildings clean and safe. There are certain operational and instructional expenses that don鈥檛 simply decrease because a district has fewer students.鈥�

Popinski: 鈥淲hen districts are shaping their budgets like they are right now they have to staff their teachers and paraprofessionals based on how many students they think are going to attend. So they鈥檙e going to try to project what that enrollment is going to be and if that enrollment is off, they get less funding.

On average, it’s about $10,000 per student that our foundation school program funds. So if you lose 10 kids, if you’re a small district that’s $100,000 that your school district isn’t receiving in funding. That can be one or two teachers that you won’t be able to afford.鈥�

El Paso Matters: How is the COVID-19 funding cliff affecting school district budgets?

Dunne-Oldfield: 鈥淏udget planning generally has been more difficult for school districts because of pandemic-related data anomalies connected to enrollment, attendance and the availability of time-limited (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) funding. The state also passed costly mandates for accelerated instruction as we came out of the pandemic, which has led to recurring costs even as the federal support for that instruction is expiring.鈥�

Popinski: 鈥�School districts knew they needed to use (COVID-19) money for one-time expenses. A lot used it on HVAC upgrades or staffing for accelerated instruction. That funding goes away at the end of the school year, but it doesn’t mean the problems from the pandemic era go away as well.鈥�

El Paso Matters: What can school districts do to reduce their deficits?

Dunne-Oldfield: 鈥淏ecause staff account for up to 85% of a district鈥檚 budget, it鈥檚 nearly impossible to navigate a challenging budget situation without reviewing staffing levels. They will likely balance staffing needs with instructional needs and generally work first to eliminate positions that have not been filled or will soon be vacant.鈥�

Popinski: 鈥淭here’s only a handful of ways that a school district can earn additional revenue through our funding system: that is to increase enrollment and average daily attendance, or it’s to increase the tax rate. To increase your tax rate you have to go out for an election, and some school districts don鈥檛 have any of that tax rate available to them. So there are very limited ways a school district can fix this budget shortfall issue.

鈥淪ome school districts are adopting that deficit budget and cutting programs at the same time. What impact is that going to have on academics and instruction for our kids as we go into next school year remains to be seen.鈥�

El Paso Matters: What should lawmakers be doing to help?

Dunne-Oldfield: 鈥淚t would be helpful for legislators to study how much it costs to educate a student, set the basic allotment at that number, and then set funding to increase automatically as inflation rises.鈥�

Popinski: 鈥淭he legislature can do a handful of things, including what they were called on to do last legislative session and increase the basic allotment. That basic allotment of $6,160 (per student) has not been increased since 2019. It would need to be a little north of $7,500 to keep up with that 22% inflationary increase since 2019.

鈥淚n addition to that, you can make sure that inflationary pressures never really get back to school districts by adding automatic inflationary adjustments so that when inflation does go up, that basic allotment goes up automatically as well.鈥�

El Paso Matters: Can citizens do anything to help?

Dunne-Oldfield: 鈥淲e鈥檇 encourage parents and families to talk with their elected officials about why fully funding our Texas public schools is so important to their local community and to the state as well.

Popinski: 鈥淐ommunity members need to stay informed on why they are having to do these budget cuts at the school district level. Make sure that you understand what’s going on in the Texas Capitol come January 2025 because that’s where the funding will flow for our kids. Until that point, school districts are constrained.鈥�

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The El Paso Independent School District is planning to close or consolidate schools 鈥� which the district calls 鈥渟unsetting campuses鈥� 鈥� by the 2025-26 school year as it braces for continued declining enrollment.

EPISD Superintendent Diana Sayavedra on Wednesday announced the district is evaluating programs, resources and facilities and will present recommendations to the Board of Trustees in late fall.

The district will hold a series of this month to introduce their restructuring plans and gather public input.

In an interview with El Paso Matters, said the district still doesn鈥檛 know how many or which of its 76 campuses could be affected but noted it does not plan to close any high schools at this point.

鈥淚f we don’t begin to have that conversation and make those difficult decisions, we will find ourselves in a crisis,鈥� Sayavedra told El Paso Matters. 鈥淪o before we get there, we’re giving ourselves a good runway to partner with the community so that our decisions are informed.鈥�

EPISD enrollment declines

The superintendent of El Paso鈥檚 largest school district said the change is needed due to declining enrollment that she expects to continue falling in the coming years.

贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 enrollment has declined by 20% since the 2013-14 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency. The district currently has fewer than 50,000 students for the first time since the 1960s.

鈥淥ver the next 10 years, we stand to lose additional students. Because our birth rates and the birth rates nationally are showing that we鈥檙e graduating more students from school systems than there are children being born,鈥� Sayavedra said.

The number of children born to El Paso County residents declined by 21% between 2013 and 2023, according to state data provided to El Paso Matters. Nationally, the number of births declined by 9% in the same period.

Elementary schools are the first affected by declining birth rates. nine elementary schools between the 2018-19 and 2020-21 school years. The declines then ripple through to middle schools and high schools over the years.

Sayavedra said she expects the district鈥檚 enrollment to settle between 36,000 and 42,000 students. That would take the district鈥檚 enrollment back to where it was in the 1950s, according to newspaper reports from that period.

El Paso ISD budget, teacher pay

As enrollment declines, Sayavedra said the district will likely have to tighten its budget and possibly forego raises for its teachers and other employees in the coming school year.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 foresee that we can give a significant compensation increase, if any at all. But what I can share with you is that I鈥檓 going to bring a balanced budget to the board,鈥� Sayavedra said. 鈥淲e’re not at a point where we鈥檙e having to make significant staffing cuts because we鈥檝e been very conservative and very fruitful and very strategic about our budget development process.鈥�

She said the district plans to maintain its fund balance at 75 days or higher and keeps its employee鈥檚 insurance premiums the same.

Trustees for El Paso鈥檚 two other largest school districts, the and Ysleta Independent School Districts, have also said they may not be able to give employees raises in the 2024-25 school year.

During an April board meeting, SISD trustees discussed possibly reducing its employee health plan contributions as it deals with a $33 million deficit.

The future of EPISD high schools

Though Sayavedra said EPISD does not currently plan to close any high schools in the district, many have also seen declines in enrollment.

Since the 2013-14 school year, enrollment dropped by over 43% at Irvin High School, 27% at Austin High School, and 21% at Andress High School.

Among 贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 10 traditional high schools, El Paso and Franklin were the only ones to see their enrollment increase during that time, by 31% and under 9%, respectively.

2025 bond election plans

The district also plans to bring a bond election to voters in November 2025 to upgrade heating and cooling systems throughout the district, improve security and potentially pay for upgrades or the construction of new consolidated school campuses.

Sayavedra said changes would need to be made even without a bond.

鈥淚f we were to sunset a campus, and families are going to transition to another campus, with a bond there may be opportunities for us to update that facility so that it鈥檚 a healthier learning environment for children. But if we’re not able to pass a bond, at the very least what we will be able to offer is program expansion for the receiving campus,鈥� Sayavedra said.

What鈥檚 next in school closure plan?

A series of will be held this month to gather input from the community. Over the summer, the district will develop preliminary criteria for school consolidations and closures.

The criteria will be shared with the community by early fall, and the district will conduct a preliminary analysis of campuses, including which schools require facility improvements or have opportunities to implement or expand programs.

Recommendations will be presented in late fall to the EPISD school board, which will vote on which schools to close or consolidate.

Timeline:

May 2024: 10 feeder pattern community meetings

Summer 2024: EPISD reviews feedback; begins developing preliminary criteria for school consolidations, closures

Early fall 2024: Criteria shared with the community; begins preliminary analysis of campuses, including which schools require facility improvements or have opportunities to implement or expand programs; more community meetings

Late fall 2024: EPISD presents recommendations to the Board of Trustees.

2025-26 school year: School consolidations, closures implemented

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Talk to some high school and college students about this year鈥檚 Free Application for Financial Student Aid, or FAFSA, and they share their concerns as well as their optimism. Few voice anger about the glitches that have made this financial aid season so stressful.

Why? Because they understand that is the key to $150 billion of college grants, work-study funds and federal student loans that will pay for college. They understand that FAFSA is not the enemy.

Regardless, the number of FAFSA submissions are down nationwide, including Texas, because of problems with the form that have delayed some students from completing the application and have discouraged others from attempting it.

High school and college counselors, advisers and administrators know this and have scheduled a second wave of workshops now through early May to encourage students to fill out the form and submit it.

About 200 students who had questions about their application participated in the bilingual FAFSA Workshop on April 20 at the Education Service Center Region 19 to get answers. Almost all came with family members, a laptop computer and financial information with the hope that they could start, or submit their applications that day.

Among them was Yaxley Bouche, an 18-year-old senior from Austin High School. She and her mother, Diana, wanted to complete the parent portion. Once done, the student could submit her FAFSA.

鈥淚鈥檓 a little stressed about how much money I will get,鈥� said the Central resident who wants to study nursing at El Paso Community College or the University of Texas at El Paso. 鈥淲ill it be less than others because I鈥檓 submitting (my application) late?鈥�

With the help of a small army of volunteers, mostly from EPCC and UTEP, students found the guidance they needed.

The two institutions organized this special event and agreed to participate in others during the next two weeks to help other families that have been confused by FAFSA.

One volunteer helped Diana Bouche start an account, which will take three days to be verified. After that, her daughter can submit her application, which should be accepted in 10 business days.

鈥淚鈥檓 not comfortable yet,鈥� Yaxley Bouche said as she closed her laptop before leaving. 鈥淚鈥檓 still concerned with the wait.鈥�

Fewer seniors complete FAFSA

According to the as of April 12, only 29% of high school seniors have completed their FAFSA. More than 1.2 million have submitted their application, but that is 36% less than this time last year.

The network鈥檚 numbers show that almost 34% of Texas senior class 鈥� approximately 373,000 鈥� has completed the application. Since the Class of 2022, Texas has mandated that high school seniors submit a FAFSA, the Texas Application for State Financial Aid, known as TASFA, or sign an opt-out form.

In an effort to make the FAFSA process easier, Congress passed the . The new application was to be more user-friendly with fewer questions (36 down from 108). It also was supposed to expand the eligibility for federal financial aid.

The U. S. Department of Education released information late last year that the number of Texas students eligible for a Pell Grant under the new FAFSA would increase by almost 51,300, and the ones who would earn the maximum Pell amount would grow to about 132,700. A Pell Grant is federal need-based aid awarded to millions of students annually.

The DOE normally releases the FAFSA on Oct. 1, but this cycle鈥檚 forms were not released until the last week of 2023. Since its launch, the application has suffered several setbacks because of technology and human error.

Financial aid offers lag behind

Karla Cid, 18, and her mother, Veronica Cid, traveled from Fabens to participate in last weekend鈥檚 FAFSA Workshop. The parent did not have a Social Security number and the pair sought a way to create and verify the mother鈥檚 account.

鈥淭his is confusing to everyone,鈥� said Veronica Cid, who, like her daughter, spoke through an interpreter. 鈥淣o one can help. We鈥檙e all in the same boat.鈥�

Cid, a first-year psychology student at EPCC, said she filled out last year鈥檚 FAFSA form and earned a Pell grant for almost $3,700. The 2023 Fabens High School graduate questioned why the government had to change the process.

鈥淚f I don鈥檛 fill out the FAFSA, I can鈥檛 go to school,鈥� said the younger Cid, who works for a fast-food franchise in Fabens. 鈥淚鈥檓 stressed. If I have to pay out of pocket, will I need to work more?鈥�

Despite her application ordeal, she was confident things would work out. Her Plan B is to take fewer courses and go part time.

Ian Valdez, a college and career adviser at Socorro High School through Advise Texas, said that he was aware that one of his students had received an aid offer from a four-year institution. Results of a survey done last week by the showed that 16% of public universities had started to send aid offers, while 54% of higher education institutions had not packaged aid offers yet. It also reported that at this point in a typical year, more than 80% of the institutions would have sent their aid offers to students.

Valdez said that among the main issues his students have shared during this FAFSA cycle included mixed-status families, or families with members of varying legal status, and poorly worded questions.

Another problem Valdez noted was the students鈥� procrastination. He said that about one in six have not even started to fill out their FAFSA despite his nudges and assurance of his help to get it done.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know how easy it can be,鈥� said Valdez, who volunteered at the workshop. Under the best circumstances, applications can be completed in 30 minutes or less. 鈥淚f there is a problem, we can set up a one-on-one with them and their parents.鈥�

鈥榃e鈥檒l fix the problems鈥�

EPCC and UTEP echoed that suggestion. Officials asked students who need help with their FAFSA, especially to address challenges, to contact their institutions鈥� enrollment or financial aid offices.

鈥淲e鈥檒l work with the families with questions, and we鈥檒l fix the problems,鈥� said Ines Lopez, EPCC鈥檚 executive director Student Financial Aid.

UTEP and EPCC officials said that their institutions had accepted fewer FAFSA forms than normal for this time of year, but were confident that the numbers would recover before the start of the fall 2024 semester.

鈥淭he (high) schools have reached out to us because their (FAFSA) completion numbers are low,鈥� said Carlos Amaya, EPCC vice president of Student & Enrollment Services. 鈥淭hey wanted more FAFSA nights and we鈥檙e going to help them to beef up their numbers.鈥�

Additionally, UTEP plans to conduct application workshops for its continuing students the week of April 29.

Amanda Vasquez-Vicario, UTEP vice president for Enrollment Management, said the university had received about 19,000 FAFSA forms so far. At this time last year, they had 25,000.

Vasquez-Vicario said she is 鈥渃autiously optimistic鈥� in part because the institution has seen a slow but steady increase in the FAFSA forms from first-time college students.

The UTEP official said that her team tells students that there is no need to panic, but some, especially those from mixed-status families, are the most anxious. They wonder if they will get the necessary financial aid, she said.

Vasquez-Vicario said the enrollment staff assures students of the university鈥檚 commitment to help, and suggests alternative sources of financial aid such as UTEP鈥檚 Paydirt Promise program where most students from families with incomes of $80,000 or less could be eligible to attend UTEP and not have to pay tuition and mandatory fees.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

There are many reasons that young adults in El Paso County do not vote, but a program piloted by El Paso Community College will try to improve the situation through peer communication to include having students serve as paid nonpartisan poll workers at sites.

The college launched its Tejano Pollworker Fellows program this spring semester. Its goal is to promote civic engagement and voter education, which includes basic information such as , select a , read a sample ballot, use a voting machine and the general electoral process.

鈥淚 know it sounds very simple, but people are afraid of looking silly and embarrassing themselves because they don鈥檛 know what to do as a voter,鈥� said Crystal Robert, associate professor of speech communication at EPCC and the fellows program director.

A few young adults at EPCC shared reasons why their age group does not vote. They include divisive politics, lack of inspiring politicians, and being too busy with work, school and family to study issues and candidates. Some grew up in families that preached voting was a waste of time, while others were discouraged after their cause or candidate lost.

Robert said her plan is to register over the next two years at least 50 students per semester who will train as poll workers and, working with the County Elections Department, place them at polling locations. As part of their duties, they鈥檒l learn how to set up a polling site to include the , hand out ballots and offer any necessary assistance.

Robert said that it is important for young people to see others their age at the polls to give them a sense of belonging.

Several fellows already served as poll workers during the March 5 primary and more will be trained before the May 28 runoff.

El Paso natives Mayeli Robles and Andrea Dominguez are among the initial EPCC poll worker fellows. They agreed that the experience was interesting, fun and lucrative. Election poll workers earn $14.50 per hour, and that wage will go up to $15 an hour in November. Participants also are eligible for a $200 stipend through the program.

During a recent conversation at EPCC鈥檚 Valle Verde campus, the two women spoke about their Election Day experiences, as well as how the program enhanced their political awareness and desire to share that knowledge with other young adults.

Robles, 19, is a biology major who graduated from El Dorado High School in 2022. She worked at the Family Youth Services Center polling site, 6314 Delta Drive, and spent much of her shift encouraging center visitors to vote. There were not that many young voters among the 103 people who cast a ballot there.

鈥淚 thought I was going to be really drained and overworked, but just seeing people exercise their right to vote, and being happy that a young person鈥檚 (helping) at the voting site made me happy,鈥� said Robles, who works in the campus鈥� Writing Center. 鈥淚t made me feel like I was doing something good for the community.鈥�

Dominguez, 21, is a multidisciplinary studies major who joined the program to be more involved in the community. She has made several voter awareness presentations to EPCC classes where she encourages students to make the time to study issues and candidates.

鈥淏eing able to use my voice in a way that actually matters is really important to me,鈥� said Dominguez, a 2021 Montwood High School graduate.

For the primary, she helped at the EPCC Rio Grande Campus voting site聽in The Little Temple, 906 El Paso St. Dominguez said she was thrilled to see the occasional young voter, but was just as happy to see any voter because there were times when the place was empty. The Elections Department recorded 156 votes cast at that location.

Dominguez said that the program鈥檚 value went beyond learning election law and how to be a poll worker. She said it taught her to be less judgmental of others’ political opinions. Beyond her classwork, and her campus job with Student Technology Services, she supports the League of Women Voters of El Paso. She called voting a way to communicate about important issues.

A civic responsibility

As someone familiar with the decline in young voters, Richard Pineda, chair and associate professor of communication at the University of Texas at El Paso, said that any opportunity to engage college-aged voters is important.

鈥淭hese efforts remind students what’s at stake and are also a gentle nudge about civic responsibility,鈥� said Pineda, a longtime political commentator.

鈥淥ften students are unaware of timelines for voter registration and the rules governing participation in an election. This is a great way to get that information out.鈥�

Ricardo Sanchez, 20, said he grew up in a family that did not value elections.

Although registered to vote, he was unfamiliar with the process and was too intimidated by the unknown to participate.

鈥淚 was discouraged before because I believed that (my vote) didn鈥檛 mean anything,鈥� said Sanchez, a 2022 Clint High School graduate.

Sanchez, an associate of arts in teaching major at EPCC, said his girlfriend explained the importance of elections, and the ABC鈥檚 of voting to him earlier this year.

As a result, he voted for the first time in March. He said it felt good to be involved politically.

Help America Vote

El Paso County has 503,059 registered voters. Of that number, approximately 120,000 are under age 30. According to the county鈥檚 Elections Department, only 3,325 of those potential voters cast a ballot on March 5. That鈥檚 almost 3%.

Those numbers are among the reasons why the awarded the college a two-year, $49,000 grant to establish the program. EPCC is one of 14 national recipients of the Help America Vote College Program Poll Worker Grants. Awards in this category went to institutions of higher education as well as state and county governments.

EAC leaders said the Help America Vote program, made possible through a Congressional allocation of $1 million, comes at a key time for election offices across the country. It estimates that about 1 million poll workers are needed for a presidential election.

The commission awarded the grants in early February. EPCC started its program at the end of that month.

The reported that approximately 14% of poll workers in the 2022 general election were between the ages of 18 and 40. That is why the organization believes it is important to recruit, train and retain younger poll workers.

Brenda Negrete, who oversees the Elections Department鈥檚 poll worker recruitment and placement, said the fellows program will help ensure that her office can provide the necessary services to voters at the polls.

Negrete said she has a list of 500 trained poll workers, and expects to need more than 400 of them for the Nov. 5 general election. She said she would like to have a few more trained workers because additional personnel often are needed at polling sites or the department headquarters for elections.

The training, done at sites throughout the county, takes about four to six hours. Topics include election code, familiarity with election documents and voting systems, as well as how to set up a polling location. Participants also go through various mock scenarios. Negrete said some virtual training is allowed under certain circumstances.

鈥淭hey need to know the do鈥檚 and don鈥檛s,鈥� said Melissa Martin, Elections Department information and resources coordinator, and the lead trainer.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Pint-sized hall monitors in yellow neon vests greet their fellow students first thing in the morning at the Tornillo PreK-8 School as part of a program meant to encourage them to come to class every day.

As children shuffle into their classrooms, teachers begin taking counts of who’s absent the moment the school day starts at 7:30 a.m., even though attendance isn鈥檛 due until 10 a.m.

From there, it’s a sprint for staff to reach parents and find those missing students.

鈥淪taff start making calls to parents to find out if a kid is going to be making it to school,鈥� said Tornillo Independent School District Superintendent Rosy Vega-Barrio. 鈥淚f we don’t get an answer right then and there, we send an officer to the house to find out what’s going on.鈥�

Once a student starts accumulating absences, school leaders like Tornillo PreK-8 Principal Myrna Lopez-Patty set up meetings with parents to talk to them about Texas attendance laws, which require school districts to begin court proceedings if a student has three unexcused absences.

鈥淵ou’re meeting with me as a preventive measure because we don’t want to file for court,鈥� Lopez-Patty told parent Brenda Guillen and her son Nathan during one of those meetings in March.

Guillen said that she did not know her son could be in danger of losing credit if he missed more than 10% of his classes for the year. In the end, she said she was glad she went to the meeting before Nathan鈥檚 attendance became a bigger problem.

鈥淚 was confident with his grades. I thought he was doing great, but I completely disregarded the fact that he needed to be on time more and in school more,鈥� Guillen told El Paso Matters.

Vega-Barrio said that these efforts helped it become the only district in El Paso County to lower its chronic absenteeism rate since students returned to school from the pandemic, although it still remained higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The 2018-19 school year was the last before the pandemic disruption. Schools across the country shut down in March 2020 and most remained closed the rest of the 2019-20 school year. In El Paso, most classes remained closed in the fall of 2020 and reopened in early 2021.

Throughout Texas, the number of chronically absent students 鈥� characterized as students who miss at least 10% of class, or about 18 days a year 鈥� rose from 11% during the 2018-19 school year to 15% in 2019-20. That increased to 26% during the 2021-22 school year, according to the most recent Federal Report Cards data released by the Texas Education Agency.

Nationally, chronic absenteeism nearly doubled from 15% in 2018-19 to 28% in 2021-22, according to a compiled by Stanford University education professor Thomas Dee in partnership with the Associated Press.

El Paso County saw a similar trend, as chronic absenteeism rates in school districts countywide grew between 11% to 26% on average over those three years.

Tornillo ISD, a rural school district on the eastern outskirts of the county with less than 900 students, was an outlier. The district saw its chronic absenteeism rate drop from 10% in 2018-19 to 2% during the 2019-20 school year but then shot up to 22% in the 2020-21 school year. The rate dropped to 14% during the 2021-22 school year 鈥� the lowest in the county that year but still above the pre-pandemic rates

That year, the El Paso Independent School District had a 36% chronic absenteeism rate 鈥� the highest in the county. The Socorro Independent School District had a 28% rate and the Ysleta Independent School District reported a 25% rate.

Outside the city limits, 35% of students in the San Elizario Independent School District were chronically absent, with 32% in the Fabens Independent School District, 28% in the Clint Independent School District and 20% in the Canutillo Independent School District. The Anthony Independent School District kept its chronic absenteeism rate the same 鈥� at 25% 鈥� between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.

Texas schools are required to keep track of which students are chronically absent, but most do not monitor the data at the district level and rely on the TEA鈥檚 annual reports.

While most El Paso schools don鈥檛 track their overall chronic absenteeism rates, some school leaders said average daily attendance has improved since the 2021-22 school year but has not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Now some experts are concerned that this rise in absenteeism could have negative effects on students who missed out on some of the benefits of attending school every day, like getting counseling, socializing, and participating in extracurricular activities.

鈥淭he earlier students attend school consistently, in terms of their age, the more likely they’re going to graduate and go on to whatever postsecondary success looks for them,鈥� University of Texas at Austin education professor Joshua Childs told El Paso Matters. 鈥淚t can provide some structure and some organization. 鈥� It’s a place where they can get a couple of meals a day, and be around adults that care about them and engage with them. For many kids, it’s a critical component of their daily life.鈥�

Research shows chronically absent students tend to perform worse academically and are more likely to drop out of school.

One Chicago found that students who are chronically absent in pre-kinder, kindergarten and first grade are less likely to read at grade level by the end of the second grade. 

Chronic absenteeism during the sixth grade is an indicator that a student will drop out of high school, and students who were chronically absent between eighth and 12th grade were seven times more likely to drop out, according to a 2017

What is chronic absenteeism and what causes it?

In Texas, students are considered chronically absent if they miss at least 10% 鈥� or 18 days 鈥� of a school year, even if an absence is excused. 

States have been required to report and track chronic absenteeism to receive Title I funding since 2015 when the Every Student Succeeds Act 鈥� or ESSA 鈥� was signed into law to replace the No Child Left Behind Act. Before 2015, Texas only tracked average daily attendance, which made it hard to tell if absences were concentrated among specific students.

鈥淲hat ESSA has allowed us to do is get at the frequency of students missing school and how much they鈥檙e missing,鈥� Childs said.

Experts and educators say that in many cases, students who are absent for long periods often face obstacles that make it hard for them to get to class every day. This can include a lack of transportation, illness and personal issues that disrupt a family’s normal day-to-day lives.

San Elizario ISD Superintendent Jeannie Meza-Chavez said she has seen cases where students have lost a parent or family member and missed several days of school afterward. In another case, a family鈥檚 home burned down, leaving their children at risk of becoming chronically absent as they face potential homelessness.

The data suggests students living in poverty and those with disabilities face even more of these obstacles than their peers, keeping them from attending school regularly. In Texas, a third of economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities were chronically absent during the 2021-22 school year.

鈥淭here鈥檚 just so many different factors,鈥� Meza-Chavez said when asked about the causes of chronic absenteeism.鈥漇ometimes our families just will not send kids to school.鈥�

Because the reasons students miss school vary, Childs said educators and researchers need to dig into why students are missing school and find ways to support them.

School leaders say most districts already make efforts to address the obstacles that keep students from getting to school. Most have social workers who connect parents with outside resources. Some take matters into their own hands finding ways to help families.

At Tornillo ISD school administrators have helped students get transportation to and from school when they are unable to take the bus.

In San Elizario, counselors worked with the family that lost its home to make sure they had a place to go and the children had clothes and shoes to wear to school, Meza-Chavez said.

Why did chronic absenteeism increase?

While changes in chronic absenteeism rates varied by school district, most followed a similar pattern. Chronic absenteeism dropped slightly when the school first closed during the 2019-20 school year, likely because districts did not need to report attendance for the last few weeks of the year, said Ysleta ISD Director of Student Services Diana Mooy.

Chronic absenteeism began to rise slightly during the 2020-21 school year. At this time Texas schools worked under a hybrid model where some students could attend class online while others went in person. Mooy said chronic absenteeism didn鈥檛 rise too much in Ysleta ISD because the state gave school districts more flexibility when taking attendance to accommodate for virtual classes.

鈥淲e usually take attendance in second period, and if you’re in your seat, you’re counted present and if you’re not you’re absent. In (2021-22) we were able to take attendance later in the day so we were given more time and more opportunities to count kids present,鈥� Mooy said. 

Then chronic absenteeism skyrocketed during the 2021-22 school year when all students were required to return to school in person.

Some school leaders El Paso Matters spoke to said they saw parents keep their kids from school more often because of illness and concerns over masking and vaccination policies.

贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 former truancy prevention director Mark Mendoza said he noticed a shift in families鈥� attitudes around school attendance.

鈥淏efore the quarantine, we had students that were chronically absent for a variety of reasons, but the general culture was that it’s important to go to school every single day,鈥� Medoza told El Paso Matters. 鈥淭hen when the pandemic happened, and the entirety of in-person schools shut down, both students and their families lost that.鈥�

Mendoza suggested that one of the reasons EPISD has the highest chronic absenteeism rate in the county is because as a District of Innovation, it is exempt from the state law that requires students to attend 90% of their classes to get credit.

The District of Innovation concept, adopted under House Bill 1842 during the 2015 legislative session, allows school districts to excuse themselves from certain state requirements. The initiative was intended to give school districts some of the same flexibility as charter schools as long as they adopt an innovation plan.

Mendoza said that since students were allowed to miss more than 10% of their classes and still get credit as long as they got passing grades, attendance suffered.

鈥淢any people began to have the idea that I can learn and get good grades without going to school every single day,鈥� Mendoza said.

EPISD did not respond to a request for comment.

What did Tornillo ISD do differently?

Tornillo ISD is encompassed by expansive desert and farmland along the Rio Grande, with some families living miles from their closest neighbor.

While most schools in Texas saw their chronic absenteeism rates go up when students returned to in-person learning, the rural district saw an increase when students were learning from home. With limited broadband service in the area, district leaders said many students who could not connect to their virtual classes were counted absent.

鈥淭he majority of our kids didn’t have access to Wi-Fi,鈥� Vega-Barrio said. 鈥淓ven though we provided hotspots to every single household, you had multiple kids online at the same time and it just created a lot of issues. I think that’s what hurt us in (2020-2021).鈥�

Additionally, the district has several students who live in Mexico and cross the Tornillo-Guadalupe International Bridge every day to get to school. 

After schools closed and international travel was restricted during the pandemic, 鈥渋t was really hard to get those students to partake in online learning,鈥� Vega-Barrio said.

In many cases parents and guardians also struggled to help their kids with school work or troubleshoot technology issues, leaving them feeling like their children needed to be back in school, Vega-Barrio said.

Tornillo ISD also implemented several programs and measures in 2021 to try to reduce absenteeism including hiring an attendance officer and educating parents on the importance of not missing school.

Texas truancy courts may require parents to participate in counseling, take special classes or do community service. Parents could also face fines and up to three days in jail if they do not comply. They can also face misdemeanor charges if they are found criminally negligent for not forcing their children to go to school, according to the Texas Education Code.

Students with five or more unexcused absences in a semester can also have their enrollment revoked, which could prevent a student from graduating or progressing to the next grade.

Tornillo PreK-8 also started a morning hall patrol program to encourage students to show up to school on time every day.

鈥淭he goal was for us to get students on time but also to build leadership skills and make them feel like they had a role here in the district,鈥� the school鈥檚 secretary, Cassandra Soto, told El Paso Matters. 

Soto, who came up with the idea for the program, said she focused on students who were missing class or showing up late excessively, and those with behavioral issues. Now many of those students have improved their attendance and are eager to go to school every day.

鈥淲e’ve seen a difference in attendance and in their behavior. They actually even told me, 鈥業t’s our job,鈥� so they get here very early,鈥� Soto said.

Tornillo ISD school leaders say these efforts have allowed them to get students back in the classroom and rebound its attendance rates. 

Soto said she thinks that success can be replicated by other schools.

鈥淲e are a small district and we don’t have a lot of resources or the amount of staff other districts have. So I think that if we’re able to do it, they’re able to do it as well,鈥� Soto said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

A University of Texas at El Paso team plans to conduct a survey this spring and act on the data to offer UTEP instructors the necessary help to address the growing capabilities and complexities of artificial intelligence, including ChatGPT.

Jeff Olimpo, director of the campus鈥� Institute for Scholarship, Pedagogy, Innovation and Research Excellence, said the goal of this study will be to determine how much instructors know about AI and how comfortable they would be to incorporate the technology into their courses.

Armed with that knowledge, the InSPIRE team will develop a multi-pronged, hybrid effort to build on every level of understanding from basic tutorials to in-depth ideas to enhance instruction to include ways students can use AI in their fields of study.

This effort is the follow-up step to InSPIRE鈥檚 spring 2023 workshops that led to the university鈥檚 initial ChatGPT guidelines. Since then, the team has incorporated other concepts used at institutions within and beyond the University of Texas System.

鈥淲e essentially created a Frankenstein of sorts,鈥� Olimpo said.

The latest incarnation included recommendations of what might be appropriate to include in a syllabus such as if AI is prohibited, allowed or allowed with restrictions. The team also created a guide that included a Frequently Asked Questions section that included AI restrictions, and procedures if the instructor suspected a student used AI in an assignment and did not credit the technology. The information was shared with faculty in January after it was approved by John Wiebe, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

Olimpo called the guidelines 鈥渂rief, digestible and accessible,鈥� and he stressed that instructors ultimately would decide what was best for their classes.

Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia, associate professor of public health sciences, was among the UTEP faculty who responded to the university鈥檚 recommendations. He said like it or not, ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is part of the education equation now and he planned to embrace it to a point.

The professor said he allows students to use it in assignments as long as they cite its use and the reasons behind it such as to develop an outline or to polish the grammar or the report鈥檚 flow. What he does not want is for AI to replace thoughts and knowledge, especially from his students who may be health care professionals someday.

鈥淚鈥檓 more concerned about how it might replace critical thinking,鈥� said Ibarra-Mejia, who mentioned how he had received student papers where he suspected AI use because the responses had nothing to do with the question. 鈥淚鈥檓 concerned that the answers I get from a student might be from ChatGPT.鈥�

Melissa Vito, vice provost for Academic Innovation at UT San Antonio, said AI has been around for decades and that ChatGPT is part of the evolution.  She is the lead organizer of an AI conference for UT System institutions this week at her campus.

鈥淭he consensus in higher ed is that instructors need to use it, and students need to understand it and be able to use it,鈥� Vito said.

In 2021, members of agreed that AI would influence all industries, but those tech leaders suggested that it would have the most effect on industries such as logistics, cybersecurity, health care, research and development, financial services, advertising, e-commerce, manufacturing, public transportation, and media and entertainment.

A research study released in March 2023 by the creator of ChatGPT, showed that approximately 80% of the U.S. workers could have at least 10% of their work affected by GPT, and that 19% of employees could see at least 50% of their jobs affected by it. The projected effects span all wage levels.

While unaware of any UT System mandates to use ChatGPT, she said institutions are creating opportunities for faculty to learn about it so they can explain its uses better to their students. She said the best path for higher education is to work with the AI industry to address concerns such as data privacy that could restrict access to what is produced and how it is used.

Vito referenced the January announcement of the collaboration between Among the goals of that relationship is to introduce advanced capabilities to the institution, which will help faculty and staff to investigate the possibilities of generative AI, which can create text, images and more in response to prompts.

The UTSA official said the purpose of the AI conference is to bring together administrators, faculty, staff and students with the broadest AI competencies to share their experiences and create a strong framework for how the UT System can benefit from the transformative effects of generative AI academically and socially.

Marcela Ramirez, associate vice provost for Teaching, Learning & Digital Transformation at UTSA, helped develop the conference鈥檚 workshops and panel discussions with representatives from sister institutions. They will cover ethical use, practical applications and how AI can be used to help students with critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Ramirez, a two-time UTEP graduate who earned her BBA in 2008 and her MBA five years later, said the content will support faculty who want to update their courses with AI, and help them to be able to explain to students AI鈥檚 current limitations and future opportunities.

鈥淲hat are the lessons learned,鈥� asked Ramirez, who worked at UTEP for more than 10 years. 鈥淎nd what鈥檚 next?鈥�

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El Paso Community College has entered into a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to teach incarcerated students the necessary welding skills to make them legitimate candidates for in-demand, good-paying jobs upon their release. 

The program should launch this spring.

The EPCC Board of Trustees approved the five-year, $520,000 agreement last month. To prepare, EPCC must hire a full-time instructor, while the leaders at the Federal Correctional Institution, La Tuna, need to upgrade its camp facilities in Anthony, Texas.

La Tuna is a low-security prison for incarcerated males located about 20 miles northwest of El Paso. According to its website, it has about 690 inmates and offers vocational training in welding, automotive and office technology. The prison鈥檚 satellite camp will house the inmates picked for the welding program.

This is the latest effort between the two entities to prepare people who are incarcerated to transition back into society. Blayne J. Primozich, associate vice president for Workforce & Continuing Education at EPCC, said it was part of the college鈥檚 mission to assist underserved populations.

鈥�(Incarcerated students) earn time off their sentences for every course they complete, but the idea is also to make them workforce ready,鈥� Primozich said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 key to reducing recidivism.鈥�

According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately 600,000 Americans are released from state and federal prisons annually, and they add to the almost who have been arrested or convicted for a crime. That connection to a criminal past can make it difficult to get a job, let alone one that pays well.

According to a 2022 report published by the Prison Policy Initiative, approximately 60% of people who were incarcerated in a federal prison do not have a job up to four years after their release. To put it in perspective, the U.S. had an unemployment rate of in 2020 during the pandemic. The current unemployment rate is 3.7%.

A Corp. analysis showed that incarcerated people who participate in education programs are 43% less likely than others to be incarcerated again, and the government saves $4 to $5 in reimprisonment costs for every dollar spent on prison education.

While the college and the prison have collaborated for more than 20 years, this is the college鈥檚 first big effort to teach at the prison since the pandemic. Olga L. Valerio, dean of EPCC鈥檚 Advanced Technology Center on the Valle Verde campus, said prison officials will select the participants for the certification program, which should last from six to eight months. Each cohort could have as many as 14 students.  

EPCC officials said that the college has collaborated with La Tuna on other similar training programs that teach interior and exterior vehicle renovations, and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. Valerio said participants with those skills have become successful workers and, in some cases, business owners, upon their release.

鈥淭his has opened doors for them,鈥� Valerio said.

Primozich said that the college鈥檚 goal is for the La Tuna students to earn their American Welding Society certifications in Shielded Metal Arc Welding and Gas Metal Arc Welding. The courses would include theory, safety training and hands-on experience with industrial welding equipment.

Once certified in those welding processes, those participants will be ready to work in maintenance and manufacturing shops, steel construction sites and oil field operations, according to the abstract presented to the trustees. The size of employers range from big companies to small businesses.

According to Salary.com, the average salary for an entry-level welder in El Paso County is $40,843 as of January, but salaries could range from about $36,300 to $46,800. Those who move out of the area could earn more.

The welding courses, which are free to the students, are funded in part through the government鈥檚 First Step Act. Congress passed the legislation in 2018 to promote rehabilitation services such as job training, lower recidivism, and to reduce sentence times.

An August 2023 brief in included an announcement from the Department of Justice that the recidivism rate of those people who used the First Step Act was lower than those who did not. The report stated that of the nearly 30,000 people who gained an early release because of the program, almost 90% had not been rearrested or reincarcerated. In contrast, a 2021 article in the stated that within three years, about 66% of formerly incarcerated people are rearrested, and more than 50% are reincarcerated.   

College and prison officials said that they will do what they can to help the certified welding students to find a job after they are released.

Louis Castillo, industry project manager with Workforce Solutions Borderplex or WSB, said having an up-to-date certification in an in-demand field helps, but people who were incarcerated also need to find a company that will give former felons a chance.

People who recently were released from prison often deal with barriers to employment. Among those Castillo listed were homelessness, substance abuse, mental health issues, the stigma of a criminal record, and a lack of reliable transportation.

鈥淲hen an employer is looking at two candidates, a lot of times those kinds of biases will have them choose the one who doesn鈥檛 have the record,鈥� Castillo said.

The WSB manager said that there are openings for skilled laborers such as welders. However, he said that jobs outside the region could pose a logistical problem for people who must stay in a certain area as a condition of their parole. While La Tuna prisoners come from throughout the country, most are from the southwest.

Sandra Qui帽onez, La Tuna鈥檚 supervisor of education, said the prison is in early discussions with EPCC and the University of Texas at El Paso to offer college courses inside the institution using Pell Grant funds. As of July 1, 2023, the U.S. government made Pell Grants available to qualified people who are incarcerated so they can pursue a college education.

Qui帽onez said that the effort will proceed after the institutions submit the required documentation to the U.S. Department of Education.

A UTEP official said the university is in talks to offer some courses at La Tuna, but there is nothing official to report yet. EPCC did not respond to a request to comment.

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A high school student, her mother and mental health professionals from Emergence Health Network gathered on Thursday for a roundtable hosted by El Paso Matters.

More than 50 people attended the event at the El Paso Community College Administrative Services Center, ending with a question-and-answer session with the audience. The dialogue was the first in a series of events El Paso Matters is hosting this year that focus on different topics affecting the community.

Alice Cruz, a senior at Austin High School, said she began to seek help for her mental illness when she was 16 years old and a combination of therapy, psychology and psychiatry helped her get to where she is today.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like any other type of illness you鈥檙e going to have,鈥� Cruz said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e gonna have to take medication for it or you鈥檙e gonna have to go through therapy to recover from it.鈥�

In a survey of 3,000 students across multiple high schools in three El Paso-area school districts, students said they wanted to learn how to cope with anxiety, said Krista Wingate, chief of child and adolescent services at Emergence Health Network. The second top response was about improving self-esteem.

Here are five highlights from the conference.

Signs my child is struggling with mental health

Gicela Lopez said she noticed changes in her daughter Alice Cruz鈥檚 behavior. Cruz slept and cried more than usual. She isolated herself in her bedroom and was no longer interested in playing soccer, socializing or eating. Cruz reassured her mother she was OK, but once Lopez noticed Cruz was cutting herself, she knew Cruz was not OK.

鈥淚 knew that something was wrong because I love to eat, honestly, and I was not eating at all,鈥� Cruz said. 鈥淢y mom gave me pasta or my favorite foods and I totally just threw them aside.鈥�

While her mental health didn鈥檛 affect her grades, she did stop communicating with her teachers and friends, Cruz said.

In order to notice these changes in your kid鈥檚 life, you have to know your kid and have consistent conversations with them, Wingate said. This lays the groundwork for having tough conversations later.

How to get my child to open up to me

Wingate said it鈥檚 important for parents and caregivers to take a step back and understand mental illness is not directly caused by something they did.

Parents should make sure they鈥檙e in the right headspace before they talk to their child about mental health issues, especially when it鈥檚 a topic that feels uncomfortable or unnatural, Wingate said. Avoid having tough conversations when you鈥檙e feeling burnt out because it may be harder to pay attention to the child, she said.

Wingate recommended the 鈥淟UV鈥� approach: listen with intention, understand and try to put yourself in your child鈥檚 shoes, validate what they鈥檙e feeling. Approach the conversation with an open mind, rather than anger, and take a second to pause and be present, she said.

Lopez said she made it clear to her daughter that they would go through the mental health journey together. Your child may not want to talk to you at first, so it鈥檚 important to establish trust, Cruz added.

鈥淵ou have to work and grow that trust, that relationship, to be able to have those difficult conversations,鈥� said Julie Tirrell, an Emergence Health therapist at Austin High School.

That means showing a level of respect for your child and their story, Tirrell said.

Rather than demanding that a therapist talk to you about your child 鈥� which may appear threatening in front of your child 鈥� start by asking your teen about what they talk about in therapy, Wingate said. A parent can ask their child for permission to sit in during the first 15 minutes of therapy, or have a collaborative conversation about what topics to discuss in the next family session.

Approaching my child about social media usage

Cruz said being on social media had a complicated effect on her mental health.

鈥淚 saw people that were happy when I was sad, that were having the best time of their lives traveling while I was in my room crying, so it definitely did influence me a lot,鈥� Cruz said.

Tirrell said social media can be problematic for the developing mind, especially because 鈥減eople only post what they want you to see.鈥� This can lead to low self esteem as teens compare themselves to others. It鈥檚 hard for young people to understand what鈥檚 on social media 鈥� from filtered photos or selective angles 鈥� may not reflect reality, Tirrell said.

Wingate said the unpopular opinion is to restrict internet time, such as using wifi-blocking apps that limit screen time. This could also look like not letting children sleep with their tablet, cell phone or school laptop, which prevents them from staying up late scrolling through social media. Talk to your child about why you want to limit their social media time, she said.

Low-cost or free mental health services available in El Paso

鈥淵our brain is one of the most important organs that we have,鈥� Tirrell said. 鈥淪eeking help doesn鈥檛 need to be looked at in a negative way at all. It should be handled just like cardiac disease.鈥�

Two organizations in El Paso offer .

Emergence Health Network, a local agency that provides mental health services, offers on-campus therapy and case management in at least 10 different schools in El Paso County. Along with therapy, the organization provides case management and informal youth mentorship. 

Project Vida, a nonprofit in El Paso, offers on-campus services in at least 21 schools across El Paso and Hudspeth counties. Each mental health team from Project Vida includes a licensed professional counselor or licensed clinical social worker, who rotate between two campuses. Availability tends to fill up within the first three months of the school year, although clinicians can take new students in the middle of the school year if their clients finish their treatment plan early.

At the Ysleta Independent School District, students, staff and their families can access free treatment for mental health or substance abuse through , which connects people to off-campus providers.

Borderland Rainbow Center offers , group therapy and peer support groups. Individual therapy is available on a sliding scale based on income.

offers programs in English and Spanish for parents and caregivers of children and adolescents who are diagnosed or not yet diagnosed with a mental health condition. 

Options besides therapy

There is a shortage of counselors and therapists in El Paso, but there are other services that can be beneficial in different ways from therapy, Wingate said.

Emergence Health Network offers caseworker services. A caseworker with a degree in psychology can provide psychological education to both parent and child. Social workers are overlooked, but they can help people learn coping skills and lay the groundwork for addressing mental health issues before jumping into therapy, she said.

Disclosure: Emergence Health Network, El Paso Community College and the Socorro Independent School District partnered with El Paso Matters to sponsor the mental health forum. Sponsors are not involved in the editorial content of El Paso Matters. The newsroom鈥檚 policy on editorial independence can be found .

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

After conducting a survey, administrators at Carroll T. Welch Elementary School in the Clint Independent School District found that about a quarter of its students felt they did not 鈥渇it in鈥� at school.

鈥淭here’s some students that feel like they have to be different. Like, 鈥業 can’t be my true self because of what (other students) might say about me,鈥欌�� said Daisy Garcia, principal of the school in Horizon City.

Now she hopes to create a more welcoming and affirming environment for them through the El Paso School Design Collaborative, which aims to reimagine how schools can better serve students and communities.

As part of the 10-month program which started in May, schools were tasked with identifying an issue at their campus and coming up with a plan to address it with the help of experts from Transcend, a nonprofit with the goal of improving education systems in the U.S. Out of the dozens of schools from across El Paso that applied to be part of the program, eight were selected.

鈥淥ur vision is to help young people learn in ways that enable them to thrive in and transform the world. And the way that we do that is by supporting communities to create and spread extraordinary equitable learning environments,鈥� said Transcend Managing Partner Dottie Smith.

The program was brought together by the Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development, or CREEED, a nonprofit that aims to improve academic performance in El Paso, and the El Paso Community Foundation, a nonprofit that funds initiatives in health, education, human services and more throughout the city.

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鈥淭he broad stroke idealistic goal is for there to be a systemic change in how schools approach school design,鈥� Vice President of Operations for the Community Foundation Stephanie Otero told El Paso Matters. 鈥淲e hope that each school in our region will have a student centered model where student voice is at the core of decision making.鈥�

With Transcend at their side, each of the participating schools set out to form teams of teachers, administrators and parents tasked with finding out how to improve their campuses. While the teams work directly with students, experts at Transcend help administrators conduct surveys, process data and provide them with examples of other schools that have centered student well-being in their education model.

鈥�(We鈥檙e) deepening their understanding of the research and science, and what their young people are saying they want,鈥� Smith said.

Some schools like the East Side鈥檚 O’Shea Keleher Whole Child Academy in the Socorro Independent School District included two fifth grade students, counselors and the school nurse in their redesign team to get their input on how to improve their campus.

Others talked to students to get their perspective.

Daisy Garcia said her team at Welch Elementary interviewed 75 of the school鈥檚 700-plus pupils from all walks of life, ranging from Spanish speakers to at-risk students to get their input.

鈥淲e wanted to make sure we had a really big pool of who we interviewed,鈥� Daisy Garcia said. 鈥淲e didn’t want just high achieving students who we know feel loved and they feel like they have leadership skills.鈥�

Many of the schools in the collaborative program focused on , also known as SEL, which aims to help students understand their emotions and build social skills as a way to improve educational outcomes.

Silvestre and Carolina Reyes Elementary in the Canutillo Independent School District and O’Shea Keleher put an emphasis on the social part of SEL, hoping to improve the way students connect with one another.

鈥淥ne of the things that we’ve found is that our students feel very well connected to the adults in the building, but many of them are still struggling with having that peer to peer interaction,鈥� said O’Shea Keleher Principal Laura Garcia. 鈥淪o we’re trying to find the root of that problem and then help give them tools to interact with their peers in a very positive manner.鈥�

While educators say students were already struggling to connect before the pandemic, lockdowns exacerbated the issue and were especially hard on younger students.

鈥淭here were a lot of skills that we lost, as far as interaction between our kids. It was problematic at all levels, but I think our babies in pre-K through first (grade) never learned those skills through the pandemic,鈥� said Reyes Elementary Principal Jessica Melendez-Carrillo.

After conducting research and learning about student鈥檚 needs the teams can move on to the 鈥渆nvisioning鈥� stage to make plans to address the issues they identified.

Melendez-Carrillo said her team at the Upper Valley school has been looking into implementing 鈥渕orning circles鈥� where students can have discussions, resolve conflicts and connect at the start of the day. She said the team is currently brainstorming and learning from other schools who have implemented these circles to see what that will look like.

鈥淲e’re collaborating, we’re thinking, we’re revisiting our protocols that we currently have and seeing how can we improve and make them better?鈥� Melendez-Carrillo said.

The team at Welch Elementary has looked into implementing a similar concept they call 鈥渢alk circles鈥� that allow teachers and students to have conversations on an equal playing field in the hopes of encouraging children to be themselves at school.

鈥淲hen they do the circles in the morning the teachers are going to participate just like the students so there’s not any kind of power or authority there. Everyone has the same type of authority and it goes back to that feeling of belonging and having a voice,鈥� Daisy Garcia said.

Laura Garcia said the team at O’Shea Keleher is still gathering data and working with Transcend on creating a parent survey before they plan their next move.

Once the teams have finalized their plans, Smith said Transcend will help implement them, evaluate their success and start the process all over again.

鈥淲e take schools through this to help them create a model that will match their vision,鈥� Smith said.

In the end, the school leaders taking part in the collaborative program hope it helps improve their student’s lives and prepares them for the future.

鈥淚 want to ensure that every one of our students who we send to middle school has that strong sense of self and confidence that they can be whoever they want without worrying about being judged,鈥� Laura Garcia said.

CREEED鈥檚 Choose to Excel Director Nadia Tellez said the program aims to help students succeed beyond school.

鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to support an initial group of eight schools to explore new models of student success that ensure students not only can go on and succeed in college, but that they鈥檙e prepared to succeed in our workforce and in their local communities,鈥� she said.

Other schools involved in the program include Vista Del Sol Environmental Science Academy, Jose H. Damian Elementary, Gonzalo and Sofia Garcia Elementary, Jose J. Alderete Middle School and the Canutillo Middle School STEAM Academy.

Smith said that once this first cohort has completed the 10-month program, Transcend hopes to continue working with them and expand to other schools throughout El Paso.

Disclosure: The Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development and El Paso Community Foundation are financial supporters of El Paso Matters. Financial supporters play no role in El Paso Matters鈥� journalism. The news organization鈥檚 policy on editorial independence can be found .

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Three El Paso school districts achieved a small victory after a Travis County judge in late October temporarily blocked the Texas Education Agency from releasing the 2023 A-F accountability ratings.

That came after dozens of Texas school districts, including the El Paso, Canutillo and San Elizario Independent School Districts, filed a lawsuit against Commissioner of Education Mike Morath, alleging the agency illegally changed the rating system after students had completed standardized testing for the 2022-23 school year.

The rating system gives districts and schools letter grades 鈥� A through F 鈥� based on a combination of test results, graduation rates and how well students are prepared for a career or college after graduating. Poor performing schools and districts are usually required to go through additional monitoring and interventions and have on some occasions been taken over by the TEA.

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Some El Paso school leaders said the TEA鈥檚 plan to change the system was a politically motivated attempt to push lawmakers to approve Gov. Greg Abbott鈥檚 鈥渟chool choice鈥� or school voucher program that would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to send their children to private and religious schools. School leaders say the plan will siphon funds based on enrollment numbers away from public schools.

鈥淭he accountability standards were changed to make the districts look like they were not performing,鈥� San Elizario ISD Superintendent Jeannie Meza-Chavez told El Paso Matters. 鈥淭his would allow the governor to go to the public and say, 鈥楾his is why we need school choice because the schools are underperforming.鈥欌��

CISD Superintendent Pedro Galaviz said he felt the change was 鈥渄esigned to create doubt in public education in order to adopt legislation that is going to shed resources to private schools.鈥�

Though a school choice bill failed to get through the Texas House for a third time on Tuesday, that same day in an effort to get the legislation passed. The House Select Committee on Educational Opportunity and Enrichment  approved on Friday the latest iteration of school choice legislation, the first time this year that a voucher bill got through a House committee.

A spokesperson for the TEA, Melissa Holmes, said the agency has appealed the court’s decision to halt the release of the A-F Accountability ratings.

鈥淭his ruling completely disregards the laws of this state and for the foreseeable future, prevents any A-F performance information from being issued to help millions of parents and educators improve the lives of our students,鈥� Holmes said in a statement. 鈥淭hough about 10% of our school system leaders disagreed with the methods used in A-F enough to file this lawsuit, the complete absence of public performance information means that 100% of our school systems cannot take actions based on these ratings, stunting the academic growth of millions of Texas kids.鈥�

Canutillo ISD was among the first school districts to join the lawsuit when it was filed in late August, citing 鈥渃oncerns about its political motivations and its potential to advance the agenda of school vouchers.鈥�

The San Elizario Independent School District Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Sept. 20 to join the lawsuit, citing identical concerns.

EPISD voted 4-3 on Sept. 12 to join the lawsuit after a closed discussion.  Trustees Alex Cuellar, Joshua Acevedo, Isabel Hernandez and Leah Hanany voted in favor and trustees Israel Irrobali, Valerie Ganelon Beals, and Daniel Call voted against the motion.

Though the TEA provided school districts with metrics and procedures for the rating system in August 2022, the lawsuit alleges that the agency broke the Texas Education Code by introducing new rules that were not set to be announced until the 2023-24 school year.

One of the changes, for example, increased the threshold in the percentage of seniors who enroll in college, pursue a non-college career or enter the military, the reported. The change in the college and readiness portion of the evaluation would have used 2022 graduate outcomes for this year鈥檚 ratings, according to the Tribune.

Starting in this year鈥檚 ratings, several industry based certifications will also be phased out and only 20% of graduates who earn them will be considered career ready, according to the released in October. This includes dental hygienist licensures, aerospace technician certifications and a number of automotive service certifications.

The new rating system also changed how school district scores are calculated. Previously, 40% of the district rating came from standardized test results; 40% came from the college, career, or military readiness rating; and 20% came from graduation rates. Now, the results from each campus will count proportionately toward the district鈥檚 ratings based on enrollment numbers of third- to 12th-grade students.

Some Texas school leaders were concerned that without preparation, these new metrics could lower their district鈥檚 rating and won鈥檛 be comparable to previous ratings.

鈥淥ur systems and processes were based on last year’s rules, so when our commissioner wants to create these new rules and apply last year’s class it鈥檚 just unfair,鈥� Galaviz said. 鈥淭he system being proposed by the commissioner was drawn up after our kids had already been tested, so we鈥檙e in the dark as to how they were going to calculate ratings. A school district could perform just as well on the test this year as they did last year and earn a much worse grade.鈥�

In 2022 and 2019, CISD received an 鈥淎鈥� in its overall accountability rating. School districts were not rated in 2020 and 2021 when the rating system was paused amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the previous measurements, Meza-Chavez said she is certain that SEISD would have retained its 鈥淏鈥� rating. After the measurements were changed, she would have expected SEISD to drop below a 鈥淏鈥� grade.

EPISD received a 鈥淏鈥� in its overall accountability rating in 2019 and 2022.

Galaviz also expressed concern that the new system would allow the TEA to take over school districts for their low ratings.

Earlier this year, the 鈥� the largest school district in Texas 鈥� partially in response to years of poor academic outcomes from one of its high schools. The school in question, Phillis Wheatley High School, received an 鈥淔鈥� rating in 2019 and a 鈥淐鈥� in 2022.

In 2019, EPISD had a number of schools that scored below a 鈥淒鈥� rating, including the now closed Alta Vista and Michael Schuster Elementary Schools and Canyon Hills Middle School. Canyon Hills received a 鈥淒鈥� rating in 2019, with a scaled score of 64 out of 100. In 2022, the school did not get a letter rating but got a scaled score of 62.

In June, teachers and staff at as part of an effort to improve its performance that EPISD dubbed a 鈥渞edesign.鈥�

鈥�(EPISD) acknowledges the importance of educational accountability. We are advocating for a comprehensive and equitable rating system as well as an appropriate amount of time for school districts to meet the requirements outlined,鈥� EPISD spokesperson Pablo Villa said about the lawsuit in a written statement.

Meza-Chavez said the lawsuit was a way to hold Commissioner Morath accountable.

鈥淲e were holding our teachers and students accountable to what the standards and measurements were before, and when the commissioner changed them, that was unfair,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 change the rules of the game after the game has been played.鈥�

鈥淲e all have dedicated teachers working their tails off, and we just want to make sure that the work that they do is assessed fairly and that the student work reflects the reality of the district. That it’s not some bureaucrat in Austin dictating how to read data in order to best suit a political agenda,鈥� Galaviz added.

The release of the A-F accountability ratings was initially set for Sept. 28, but was postponed for a month to 鈥渁llow for a further re-examination of the baseline data used in the calculation of Progress to ensure ratings reflect the most appropriate goals for students,鈥� according to a news release from the TEA.

For now, school districts will need to wait on the results of the appeal to see if their accountability ratings will be released.

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Arlena Lege is a modern-day traveling saleswoman who represents higher education opportunities at El Paso Community College to hundreds of the region鈥檚 rural high school students. Business is good 鈥� but it always could be better.

Lege (pronounced leh-JEY) is a 鈥渢ransition specialist鈥� officially, but she is a self-described recruiter. She calls, texts, emails, has virtual office hours and does site visits to provide information to students, parents, families and counselors at high schools in Clint, Fabens, Tornillo, San Elizario and Fort Hancock.

She and two other members of the EPCC Recruitment Services team recently participated in the 2023 TACRAO (Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) El Paso College Week at Clint High School. EPCC was among the more than 40 institutions of higher education and military service present for the event in the campus gym. While the event was at Clint, students from the other rural schools also participated.

Lege talked about her job as hundreds of students began to mill around the many tables staffed by recruiters from throughout the state and beyond.

鈥淲hen the students see me at (EPCC) Welcome Days at the start of the semester, they鈥檒l make a point of coming up and telling me how helpful I was to them,鈥� said Lege, who became an EPCC recruiter four years ago. 鈥淭hat just brightens my day.鈥�

Those relationships start or grow stronger at events such as College Week because recruiters often are the initial faces of their institutions.

Lege regularly connects with her rural campuses to talk about admissions deadlines, new degree and credential programs, and work-study opportunities. Her visits along with other special presentations are among the reasons why she accrues approximately 27,000 miles on her car annually.

Campus visits

On this campus visit, the EPCC recruiters covered their table with a purple college drape as well as promotional literature about the institution鈥檚 programs and services, as well as SWAG pens marked with the EPCC logo. This day鈥檚 crowd is somewhat shy, but the students eventually ask questions about courses, credentials and degree plans in nursing, education, graphic arts, automotive technology, architecture, criminal justice and psychology. Some just want a pen. One group of boys was more interested in the best school for fraternity parties.

The recruiters hand out a bilingual Recruitment Service brochure that features enrollment steps and the, about $1,600 for 12 hours which is called the 鈥渂est value in El Paso.鈥� Price is important to these students because many of them come from modest backgrounds. Since the 1990s, these rural school districts have been under the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Community Eligibility Provision, which allows districts to provide free lunches to all students because at least 40% are considered low income.

Lege stresses the availability of financial aid and scholarships to offset the financial burdens of college. She knows a good percentage dismiss college because they believe they must work to help their families.

For those students, she promotes EPCC鈥檚 technical credentials that could be completed in as little as six months. Some of the more popular options include welding, cosmetology, HVAC and diesel mechanics. Her hope is that they will access the financial aid, do well in school and decide to stay for an associate degree.

Briana Lujan, a senior at Fort Hancock High School, called college a 鈥渕assive risk鈥� but she knows that it is a ticket to a better job and a financially stable future. She wants to start with a cosmetology credential and then move on to a child care career.

Lujan said her initial concern is the cost of tuition and fees, but also transportation. She said the distance 鈥� approximately 48 miles 鈥� means she will need a car and that includes gas, insurance and a parking permit.

鈥淐ollege is pricey, but that degree would make my family proud, 鈥� Lujan said.

Lorena Flores, Fabens High School college adviser, said she appreciated Lege鈥檚 hands-on efforts to connect with her students because many cannot travel to attend recruiting events at EPCC. Flores said face-to-face visits take the recruiting beyond the brochures and videos to create a sense of inclusion.

鈥�(Lege鈥檚) presence makes them think a little more about attending her institution,鈥� Flores said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like you鈥檙e telling the students that you want them there.鈥�

Socorro resident Eddie Villalba graduated from Clint High School in 2022. He said he did not interact with recruiters in high school, but enrolled at EPCC because he thought a smaller campus would suit him better.

Villalba took as many dual credit classes as possible in high school because they were free and to speed up his time to get a degree. He earned an EPCC scholarship that pays for more than half of his college expenses, and juggles his classes with a job as a veterinary tech. The Clint alumnus expects to earn an associate degree in geology next spring, and plans to apply for a job with the U.S. Forest Service.

Villalba said he has enjoyed his college experience in part because of the freedom to select a class schedule around his job, and because faculty always seemed available when he had questions. It also has helped him grow up.

鈥淕oing to school is up to you,鈥� Villalba said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 your responsibility to do better for yourself.鈥�

According to EPCC and University of Texas at El Paso records, a small but steady percentage of the rural graduates enroll at their institutions. In most cases, the numbers are still below their pre-pandemic levels, but EPCC鈥檚 focus on career-oriented and short-term credentials should help.

The 聽recently released the preliminary results of its fall 2023 enrollment study. Among its highlights was the growing student interest in credential programs. In contrast to 2022, enrollment for certifications rose almost 10% compared to 3.6% for associate degrees and less than 1% for bachelor鈥檚 degrees.

In a study released in January 2022, the 聽stated that rural-serving post-secondary institutions play an important role in the academic and social well-being of a rural community. The study showed that rural-serving institutions (RSIs) directly or indirectly affect millions of people. One example was during the pandemic when institutions worked to provide technology to students with poor internet access so they could continue their education.

As part of the report, Andrew Koricich, the project鈥檚 principal investigator and the alliance鈥檚 executive director, said that RSIs were important academic access points for low-income students and those from marginalized racial backgrounds, and were critical to regional economic development because they often are among their region鈥檚 largest employers.

Lege said her main message to her rural students is to dream big and to not stress if they do not have an immediate plan for their lives.  

鈥淚 tell them they will be happier if they follow a path that they choose themselves,鈥� Lege said.

Lege said the recent College Week event is a warm up for the busy part of her year in early 2024 when EPCC engages in numerous Operation College Bound activities. That is where counselors, advisers, and representatives from the offices of admissions, financial aid and new student orientation go to the rural campuses to help with registration.

In the last few years, the Socorro Independent School District has been preparing its middle school students to enroll in algebra once they get to the eighth grade 鈥� a class typically taken by high school freshmen 鈥� hoping to get more of them into college-level math in high school.

By 2022, nearly 100% of the district鈥檚 eighth-graders were taking algebra 1, a class most Texas students take in ninth grade. Now, five SISD schools are being recognized for having the highest middle school algebra 1 test scores in El Paso County for the 2022-23 school year.

On Monday, the Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development, or CREEED, is awarding nearly $60,000 in cash gift cards to faculty and staff at Col. John Ensor Middle School, Montwood Middle School, Rafael Hernando III Middle School and William D. Slider Middle School and the Ernesto Serna Fine Arts Academy. The non-profit funds programs in both traditional school districts and charter schools in hopes of improving student performance in El Paso.

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SISD school improvement officer Carmen Crosse said the plan to get more of the district’s middle school students into a high school math class started during the 2018-19 school year. At the time, SISD had about 40% of its eighth graders enrolled in algebra 1.

By the end 2018-19 school year, 93% of those students met grade level and 73% mastered the subject in their spring STAAR exam scores.

鈥淚n 2019, we saw that kids could do more, so why not provide that opportunity to more kids?鈥� Crosse told El Paso Matters. 鈥淭eachers and administrators were open to the idea of moving as many kids as were ready to take algebra class, and we found that they did well.鈥�

Crosse said SISD begins preparing its students for the class as soon as they enter middle school by introducing material students would normally learn later on.

鈥淲e started adding some seventh- and eighth-grade curriculum into the sixth and the seventh grade to ensure that they have seen and reviewed that higher level material,鈥� Crosse said. 鈥淎nd our teachers in the algebra classes are also providing interventions if there are gaps.鈥�

Cade Vera, 13, an eighth grader at Sun Ridge Middle School in the SISD, said that while Algebra may be a tough subject, he is learning the concepts and enjoys the work.

“It’s different, but if you pay attention and do the work, you won’t fail,” he said. “The teacher is taking a lot of time to move us along. The students struggling are those that don’t do the work.”

Crosse said the transition was delayed when students fell behind during the COVID-19 pandemic, but by the 2022-23 school year almost all of SISD鈥檚 eighth graders were taking algebra 1. Crosse noted there were a few exceptions for students who had transferred from another school district.

That year, Ensor got the highest middle school algebra 1 STAAR test scores with 84% of its total students meeting grade level.

鈥淚 want to credit my algebra 1 team who stayed after school all the time, who dedicated their personal time to come in on Saturdays and who took off half of their intercession to come be with the kids,鈥� said Ensor Middle School Principal Stephen Fernandez. 鈥淭his is a very special group. It is not the norm to have teachers be this dedicated to their craft.鈥�

Fernandez said the school also implemented a double block schedule that required students to take an intervention class along with their regular math course after administrators saw significant gaps in its seventh-grade test scores.

School administrators, CREEED leaders and education experts agree that having students take algebra 1 in middle school ultimately gives them more options to decide what they want to do in high school and beyond. In particular, it can allow them to take math classes for college credit while in high school.

鈥淚t opens up other opportunities for them in high school whether they want to get into early college or any other specialty. We’re really excited about getting them prepared, opening up their schedule and giving more opportunities for them to do other things,鈥� Fernandez said.

One of those options may be enrolling in SISD鈥檚 early college program, where students can earn an associate鈥檚 degree or 60 credit hours towards a bachelor’s degree. During the 2022-23 school year, about 450 students graduated from SISD with college degrees ranging from nursing to business and finance.

Crosse said SISD hopes that number will rise to about 600 at the end of the 2023-24 school year, as more students who took algebra 1 in eighth grade after 2019 begin to graduate.

For now, CREEED hopes to encourage other school districts to follow SISD鈥檚 lead and get at least 90% of El Paso鈥檚 eighth graders enrolled in algebra 1 through its Algebra In Middle School (AIM High) initiative. The goal is to get students enrolled in dual credit classes once they get to high school and ultimately improve their chances of succeeding in college.

鈥淲e have put a lot of focus on trying to get a higher level of preparation for post-secondary education, and algebra is one of the gateway courses,鈥� Eddie Rodriguez, CREEED鈥檚 executive director and board secretary, told El Paso Matters. 鈥淏y opening the gateway earlier you actually get a greater opportunity for students to effectively reach to the next level.鈥�

CREEED researchers also found that having more eighth graders in algebra 1 could improve their test scores. During the 2022-23 school year, all of the top-performing middle schools in algebra 1 had the majority of their students enrolled in the class.

As part of the initiative, members of CREEED will give every faculty and staff member at the top five performing middle schools in algebra 1 gift cards ranging from $50 to $500.

Rodriguez said the organization wanted to recognize the teachers and staff 鈥� ranging from secretaries to custodians 鈥� for their roles in helping students succeed.

鈥淲e recognize that something like this comes about because of the commitment of the entire school and all of its staff. So what we decided to do in this effort is to recognize the entire school.鈥� Rodriguez said. 鈥淚t takes that kind of engagement to bring these kinds of results.鈥�

Disclosure: The Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development is a financial supporter of El Paso Matters. Financial supporters play no role in El Paso Matters鈥� journalism. The news organization鈥檚 policy on editorial independence can be found .

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The University of Texas at El Paso announced Wednesday that it will take a lead role in a new National Science Foundation-funded resource center that will support and strengthen Hispanic-Serving Institutions with their STEM-related grant applications.

The six-year, $7 million grant will establish the Hispanic-Serving Institution Center for Evaluation and Research Synthesis, or HSI-CERS, the nation鈥檚 only center of its kind. The center will work to help institutions better study and evaluate ways to verify and improve the effectiveness of NSF HSI-funded projects.

The center will be part of UTEP鈥檚 Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success. Anne-Marie Nu帽ez, executive director of the Natalicio Institute, is the grant鈥檚 principal investigator. She called the grant a landmark investment that emphasizes the university鈥檚 position as a leading HSI.

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鈥淭his particular grant signals UTEP鈥檚 leadership in research on effective practices to serve Hispanic students,鈥� said Nu帽ez, a leading scholar of HSIs and diversity in science. 鈥淯TEP gets positioned and recognized as a leader in creating knowledge in that area rather than having outsiders create that knowledge. As for the community, it鈥檚 really important that those of us who are on the ground here are creating that knowledge.鈥�

Nu帽ez said the new center will assist other institutions that may lack the human or financial resources, as well as the capacity, to understand what they can do to create more equity in STEM, and more effectively reach students from diverse backgrounds. She added that through this work, UTEP will provide the first portrait of the collective effectiveness of these programs.

According to the NSF, the center will use interdisciplinary efforts to generate a model that tackles complex data through quantitative and qualitative methods. Researchers will develop standardized and comparable techniques to analyze NSF HSI-grant projects. It will create a database that future grantees can use for evaluations and a consistent evaluation framework, as well as offer training on how to use both.

Nu帽ez鈥檚 two HSI-CERS co-principal investigators are Azuri Gonzalez, director of partnerships and operations at the Natalicio Institute, and Amy Wagler, professor of mathematical sciences.

The assessments will help NSF HSI-funded programs that serve Hispanics and other minority students in fields of STEM 鈥� Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

The announcement was made on the patio of the Peter and Margaret de Wetter Center before a crowd of about 40 people made up mostly of university administrators, faculty and staff.

The HSI-CERS grant puts UTEP on the national stage alongside the NSF, said Jacob Fraire, president of the ECMC Foundation. Fraire, who has more than 35 years of professional higher education experience, previously served as director of policy and strategy for the Natalicio Institute. He was part of the team that submitted the grant proposal.

He called Nu帽ez an HSI expert who deserves a lot of the credit for the successful application that will make UTEP and the Natalicio Institute a focal point for prospective NSF grantees in regard to proposal evaluations for the next six years.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to submit your proposals to UTEP, and you don鈥檛 have to go to UTEP committees,鈥� Fraire said. 鈥淏ut you certainly will be encouraged to do so because UTEP will have built the kinds of resources that would add value to your project.鈥�

In addition to HSI-CERS, the NSF also named UTEP as one of five institutions that will lead a second related $7 million project focused on building community and collaborations among current and potential HSI awardees. It is the UNIDOS Network Resource Center for Community Coordination, or HSI-CCC. Florida International University is the lead institution. Meagan Kendall, associate professor in UTEP鈥檚 Department of Engineering, Education and Leadership, is one of the co-principal investigators.

Gonzalez said that she looked forward to future collaborations among the institutions through Kendall to expand knowledge of what works and what can be done better.

鈥淭elling the story of Hispanic student impact right is no small feat, but we welcome that challenge because it is a story worth telling and learning from,鈥� Gonzalez said.

Both new centers are part of the NSF HSI Program Network Resource Centers and Hubs.

鈥淏uilding on past investments, these new centers will help NSF achieve its broadening participation goals in STEM by growing and strengthening the education and research support that facilitates student and faculty success at HSIs,鈥� James L. Moore III, NSF assistant director for STEM education, said in a press release.

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Angelique Estrada, who uses they/them pronouns, remembered the single health class she took in middle school that only briefly mentioned sex education.

鈥淚t wasn’t really about sex ed, it was just about getting your period,鈥� the 18-year-old recalled. 鈥淭hat’s really all I had in school.鈥�

Paola Duran, 19, shared a similar experience during her freshman year in high school.

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鈥淚 took a health class, and that was basically all the sex ed that I really knew,鈥� Duran said. 鈥淕rowing up in a Hispanic household you don’t really hear much about sex, except don’t do it.鈥�

Tales of limited sex education are nothing new for Texas as one of 18 states that do not require it to graduate high school. Instead, students in Texas take a health class in middle school, which includes lessons on puberty, abuse prevention and sexually transmitted diseases.

Though some school districts, including the Socorro Independent School District, work with local health organizations to expand their sex ed curriculum, the majority of Texas students learn from a

That changed for Estrada and Duran when the teens became interns with the Fronterizx Community Project, or FCP, where they learned about sex education and participated in projects to share their knowledge with their peers.

Interns are paid $15 an hour to attend workshops, create online content and give presentations on sex education throughout the borderland. The organization also pays students a $50 鈥渟elf care鈥� and travel stipends.

鈥淭here is just so clearly a gap in the school system and students crave the information and want to talk about it,鈥� said FCP program coordinator Corinthia Fraire. 鈥淥ur goal is to fill in that gap in a way that is welcoming to young people and to create a space for them to be able to have different discussions.鈥�

Data shows that gap exists throughout Texas.

It is estimated that just under 17% of schools in the state offer abstinence-plus sex education 鈥� also known as comprehensive sex education 鈥� which focuses on teaching medically accurate information about contraception, according to a 2017  Just over 58% of schools in the state offer abstinence-only sex education classes and about 25% do not offer it at all, according to the study.

Schools that do offer sex education must stress abstinence as the preferred birth control method for unmarried young people. Schools are also required to provide parents with access to their health and sex ed curriculum and can also opt their child out of any part of the lesson.

FCP coordinator and former intern, Angelica Bustos said that many schools that do offer sex education still fail to address the needs of LGBTQ students and those who are already sexually active.

鈥淭hey don’t have anybody to ask questions to because their teachers don’t always have the opportunity to answer those questions freely without getting in trouble,鈥� Bustos said. 鈥淭hen they go home and they can’t ask those questions because they don’t quite feel comfortable asking their parents.鈥�

As part of FCP, interns learn about topics you would expect to find in any comprehensive sex ed class, like contraception and teen pregnancy, but also get to have discussions that may be considered taboo at home or in school, like gender identity, masturbation and pleasure. Other times they talk about social issues like birth control accessibility and teen mental health.

Duran, who took part in the program in 2021, said she learned about the stigma minority women and non-binary people face when talking about sex.

鈥淚 just learned that it’s important to have conversations and it’s important to destigmatize a lot of these topics,鈥� she said.

Estrada, who was an intern in 2022, said students also learned about condoms, consent and the importance of communication.

FCP is funded by the , a non-profit that offers financial assistance to patients seeking abortion care in El Paso, Juarez and Southern New Mexico. The fund paused its services in June 2022 after the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe V. Wade.

Since FCP was founded in 2018, dozens of high school students have taken part in the various iterations of the program.

Initially, the organization aimed to address unwanted teen pregnancies by trying to change local school policies and improving access to sex education.

鈥淚f we were to update any policies, we would need to directly hear from the people who are being impacted, which is young people,鈥� Fraire said.

The first cohort of interns was hired to give presentations on teen birth rates and the impacts of teen pregnancy at local School Health Advisory Council 鈥� or SHAC 鈥� meetings. These councils are made of members from the community and are meant to give school districts guidance on their health education and sex ed curriculum.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and FCP interns were no longer able to attend SHAC meetings, they began giving virtual presentations to school boards, holding townhalls and gathering signatures for a petition to try to improve access to sex education in El Paso schools.

Though their efforts failed, Fraire said the group was able to learn from the experience and began changing their goals.

鈥淪ome of the feedback we got from the youth was that they would receive their sex education as pamphlets or like notebooks without any type of lecture and was more self guided and optional,鈥� Fraire said. 鈥淜nowing the long journey it would take to change school policies, we decided to take matters into our own hands and focus on curating a curriculum and teaching different topics ourselves.鈥�

To take part in the internship students must get their parent’s permission and sign an agreement ensuring they understand what type of conversations their kids will be having. Fraire said parents are also invited to attend and listen in on discussions and activities.

For now, Fraire said FCP is limited to hiring six to eight interns a year but hopes to grow the organization to be able to offer in-depth sex education internships to more El Paso teens.

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Kids and teens across El Paso have found that small cylindrical and flash drive-looking devices containing THC 鈥� the psychoactive component in marijuana that produces a high 鈥� are easily tucked away in pockets and under sleeves, allowing them to inconspicuously take a drag wherever they go.

As a result, the number of juveniles facing criminal charges for possession of THC concentrates 鈥� a felony in Texas 鈥� has skyrocketed in recent months.

With arrests continuing to mount, there have been some efforts in turning the tide.

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In the last of a four-part series about the rise of vaping THC among minors, El Paso Matters examined some of the emerging research on youth cannabis use prevention; how health organizations have tried to stop kids from using the drug before they can get in trouble; and the recent attempts to change the laws and penalties that come with possession of THC concentrates 鈥� which some experts say may be doing more harm than good.

鈥淥nce you have a kid involved in the criminal legal system, it stays with them forever,鈥� Andreea Matei, a policy associate with the Urban Institute鈥檚 Justice Policy Center told El Paso Matters. 鈥淚t impacts employment, it can impact access to funding and support during education and secondary education. It impacts their ability to find housing sometimes. So it really sets them up in a way for failure.鈥�

The is a Washington, D.C.鈥揵ased policy research think-tank that has conducted several studies on juvenile justice reform.

鈥淧unitive measures are not effective,鈥� added Dr. Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics. 鈥淭he best method is to support them into not using again. Support them in not becoming addicted and getting off of that cannabis. 鈥� So don’t bust them. Don’t put them in jail.鈥�

Studies on adolescent development have found that some of the strict methods used in the juvenile justice field for decades, such as probation or juvenile detention, have failed to stop minors from reoffending.

In response, Matei said there has been a call to change these methods to focus on treatment, education and behavior change 鈥渞ather than punitive measures for the sake of accountability鈥� through community resources and services.

In El Paso, local lawmakers have already made some efforts to reduce the punishments that come with marijuana and THC possession charges.

In May 2020, the El Paso City Council approved a cite-and-release program, which allows police officers to give a ticket instead of arresting someone who is caught with marijuana. The program does not apply to THC concentrates like those commonly found in vaping devices.

Then in late 2022, the El Paso County Commissioners Court also created a specialized diversion program for minors charged with possessing THC for the first time. The program connects juveniles with resources from local organizations, including , a local mental health and addiction treatment organization, and, a children鈥檚 health center.

It also allows them to get their records sealed after completing counseling sessions and passing a drug test.

Research shows that these types of programs may be successful in lowering recidivism rates among youth.

looking at the outcomes of 73 diversion programs in the U.S., Australia and Canada found that minors who took part in a diversion program were 24% less likely to get in trouble with the law again in the future.

In Florida, a statewide data analysis found that youth who were issued civil citations as part of a diversion program instead of being arrested had a 4% recidivism rate, while their peers who were arrested had a 9% recidivism rate.

Still, diversion programs can have varied methods and outcomes, and local drug-use prevention advocates say it is too early to tell if the program in El Paso will be successful in lowering THC-related arrests among minors.

Though these efforts have lessened some of the punishments that come with marijuana charges or THC possession in El Paso, some of the long-term consequences that come with a criminal record may remain. If left unsealed, a felony can affect a person鈥檚 ability to get certain jobs, qualify for financial aid and apply for housing. Sealed records can also be accessed in some rare cases if the person is charged with a serious crime again in the future.

It would be up to the state to change the law and lower the severity of the charges 鈥搒omething one state lawmaker attempted to do during the 2023 legislative session.

Texas state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, introduced , which would have reduced the penalties for possession of small amounts of THC concentrate from a felony to a Class C misdemeanor, among other changes. The bill would have also required law enforcement to issue citations instead of making arrests for marijuana possession, and allowed first offenders to have their charges expunged, essentially destroying any record it ever happened.

The bill passed through the House but was never scheduled for a hearing once it reached the Senate State Affairs Committee. Lawmakers will likely have to wait until the next legislative session in 2025 before another similar law can be introduced.

Legislators in New Mexico, where marijuana is legal for adults 21 and over, have already gone even further to limit penalties for minors caught with the drug.

In 2021, the governor of New Mexico signed a that eliminated fines for juvenile offenders convicted of marijuana possession, which lawmakers say hurt economically disadvantaged families. Now in New Mexico, if a minor is caught with a THC vape pen, they would only be required to complete community service.

鈥淭hese fees are disproportionately painful for lower-income families,鈥� said Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in a at the time of signing the bill. 鈥淣ickel-and-diming New Mexico families doesn鈥檛 solve anything. On the contrary, it can create a vicious cycle of fee collection and license revocation, all of which serves only to entrap too many New Mexicans in the criminal justice system. Instead, we need to be looking at ways to reduce the administrative burden on families and reduce the potential for recidivism.鈥�

Preventing THC Use: No Silver Bullet

As vaping has become one of the most popular ways for young people to consume marijuana, some local drug prevention organizations have been trying to stop them from using THC before they get a chance to get into legal trouble.

This includes groups like the Paso del Norte Health Foundation and the El Paso Advocates for Prevention Coalition, which consists of parents and representatives from various sectors like law enforcement and schools.

These groups have put on presentations and attended community events to reach out to parents, teachers and youth, with the primary focus on educating them about the harms of marijuana use and vaping.

While studies show that using factual information about cannabis use can help prevent cannabis use among minors, some experts have suggested that just focusing on just the negative side of marijuana use can be ineffective.

鈥淎dults are using cannabis to fall asleep, to be happy 鈥� they’re using it for some perceived benefit,鈥� Halpern-Felsher said. 鈥淚f you only talk to teens about the bad, teens don’t listen. 鈥� And the problem is you lose your audience, you lose your voice if you don’t give a balanced perspective.鈥�

Halpern-Felsher founded the in 2019 to provide resources for educators, parents and community organizations meant to prevent middle and high school students from using marijuana. The program was modeled on the nationally recognized and uses similar strategies while addressing some of the complexities around marijuana use as laws and research around the drug are constantly evolving.

In some cases, these types of prevention programs are being directed to minors who have already tried marijuana at least once and may not be as receptive as their peers.

鈥淲hen you’re teaching cannabis or tobacco or drug prevention in the classroom, you’re going to have anywhere from 10% to 40% of the class who have already used some form of drug,鈥� Halpern-Felsher said. 鈥淚f you tell teens, 鈥楴ever use it, it’s bad and if you do, this is what’s going to happen,鈥� students in the class who have used also shut down.鈥�

One Florida-based program, , has opted to focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle and educating young people on how marijuana and drug use can affect that.

鈥淭he program focuses on positive images,鈥� said the organization鈥檚 founder Dr. Chudley Werch. 鈥淲e set aspirational goals to get a little bit more physical activity or eat a piece of fruit or get another 30 minutes of sleep while also pledging to avoid substance use, which is counterproductive to a healthy lifestyle.鈥�

With all the complexities that come with marijuana, some said it may take a multifaceted approach to stopping kids from using it.

鈥淭here’s no silver bullet,鈥� Werch said. 鈥淥ur program will work for many youth but not all, and that goes with any kind of a prevention strategy.鈥�

Other organizations have begun trying to understand why young people use marijuana to develop new approaches on how to stop them from using it.

In one on adolescent cannabis use, researchers observed that some of the main reasons young people use marijuana are to bond with peers, deal with social isolation and cope with mental health issues 鈥� factors that were exacerbated by the pandemic.

鈥淪ome of our participants really did talk a lot about how the COVID-19 pandemic had just exacerbated challenges to their daily routines. It has increased feelings of isolation, and really they’ve seen a negative impact on themselves,鈥� said Shiloh Beckerley, vice president of research and evaluation for Rescue Agency, during a presentation on the study in 2022. 鈥淥ne tween stated to me, 鈥楨very day was literally the same. I couldn’t do anything. We were doing school on Zoom. I just stayed in my bed all day.鈥� So you can imagine that there could really increase that sense of social isolation.鈥�

The study, which involved interviews and focus groups with youth and parents, was conducted by a marketing company that creates public health campaigns, on behalf of the California Department of Public Health.

These researchers found that many teens who already used marijuana said they began using more during the pandemic and believed it helped them deal with anxiety and depression, though research suggests it may actually exacerbate it.

The study also examined young people’s receptiveness toward different types of cannabis prevention messages.

Youth told researchers they wanted to hear in-depth and scientific information about why cannabis impacts the brain from a credible and trustworthy source. Teens often identified peers with personal experience with cannabis as trustworthy sources, according to the study. Older teens also said they wanted to hear non颅judgmental information and were turned off by ads they felt were talking down on those who use marijuana.

Many also said they were concerned about potential changes to their brain and personality, and cited this as the main reason they have either never tried or want to stop using marijuana.

This is the last in a four-part series on THC vaping among minors. Find the first story , the second and the third .

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The three most important ways that colleges can help students transition into and through higher education involve financial assistance, academic support programs and mental health services, according to the  of graduating high school seniors.

Officials at the University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso Community College and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso hope to build on last year鈥檚 numbers when they enrolled more than 49,000 students, and believe that they can accommodate those needs.

For some El Pasoans who are part of the 2023-24 freshman class, affordability is the main concern.

Alan Garcia decided to attend EPCC this fall mainly due to the financial aid package he received: His Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, earned him a full scholarship for tuition and fees.

Garcia, a 2023 Chapin High School graduate, added that other deciding factors included his interest in the college鈥檚 biology courses and labs, and his trust in his college advisers.

鈥淭hey will tell me how to do things the right way and, if I get lost (academically), they will lead me back to the correct path,鈥� said Garcia, a nursing major.

Financial aid

Students are encouraged to submit their FAFSA, and also can request additional funds from the institutions due to dire hardship or emergencies. The schools have other pools of money to assist students.

Carlos Amaya, vice president of student and enrollment services at EPCC, said the state鈥檚 new funding model for community colleges will create some changes that could affect financial aid. He said it was too early to discuss the effect of those changes.

Amaya said that EPCC students earned more than $19 million in Pell grants during the last academic year, a $2 million increase over the previous year.

At the state level, Amaya said the legislature passed a bill that would funnel more money into student grant programs such as the Texas Educational Opportunity Grant and the Texas Public Educational Grant. He added that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board would conduct simulations to see how the new funding rules and disbursement would work for the state鈥檚 50 community college districts.

Gary Edens, who recently stepped down as vice president for Student Affairs at UTEP, said students from families with incomes of $75,000 or less can apply for the Paydirt Promise program, which allows them to attend the university and not pay tuition or mandatory fees. Seven out of 10 university students receive financial aid, according to a UTEP webpage.

Civil engineering major Loeila Casas, a 2023 Burges High School graduate, said she chose UTEP because of the financial aid 鈥� including a Pell grant and an institutional grant 鈥� as well as its engineering programs.

Edens also noted that the university鈥檚 tuition is one of the lowest among the nation鈥檚 top research universities. Annual tuition and mandatory fees for a full-time student start at about $7,300, UTEP鈥檚 Student Business Services webpage shows. 

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anyone鈥檚 more committed in Texas for sure, and probably across the country, as far as cost of an education, and we鈥檙e going to maintain that commitment,鈥� Edens said.

Mental health and academic services

Representatives from the institutions said they plan to launch new centers, committees and resources this fall that will enhance mental health and support services for students who are dealing with academic issues as well as stress, food and housing insecurity, child care or family issues, or emotional emergencies such as suicidal thoughts. Situations that cannot be resolved by campus personnel will be referred to an off-site agency.

Hilda Alarcon, interim senior director in the TTUHSCEP Office of Student Services and Student Engagement, said her office will add an Academic Support Center on Sept. 1. The new center will offer more advanced tips on how to study and prepare for exams as well as different approaches to understand material.

Alarcon said campus leaders decided to launch this center because many of their students are used to being academically successful and the rigorous dental, nursing, medical or biomedical science curricula could be difficult for some of them.

The Academic Support Center will join the existing centers that focus on wellness, mental health support and services for people with disabilities. The office, which has three clinicians, will have another full-time and a part-time clinician also starting Sept. 1. The resources are available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays on the second floor of the Medical Sciences Building II.

However, the office also oversees the CARE team that includes administrators and staff from all TTUHSCEP schools as well as law enforcement. They will follow-up after hours with students who may be dealing with serious mental health concerns that go beyond the workday.

Steven E. Smith, vice president of Instruction and Workforce Education at EPCC, said that the college has used grant funds to enhance child care, tutoring, supplemental classroom instruction, and other support services. Where possible, EPCC has expanded its services virtually to increase access for students who work.

EPCC expects to open social services/mental health centers at its Northwest, Valle Verde and Mission del Paso campuses during the middle to late part of the fall semester. It will be staffed by a social worker and a licensed professional counselor. College leaders are settling on procedures, but some counselors already are seeing students for initial assessments. If necessary, those students are being referred to community resources.

Meanwhile, academic counselors at each EPCC campus can provide students with emergency mental health and crisis management support to include referrals to off-campus agencies.

The college hopes to hire additional personnel for these centers and to open similar offices at the Transmountain and Rio Grande campuses during the 2024-25 academic year. Until then, students at those campuses can access virtual services, said Paula Mitchell, associate vice president of Instruction & Student Success.

The college began in the spring 2021 semester to send students an engagement survey to check on their well being. One of the questions asks if they need any mental health resources. Of the nearly 8,300 responses, over 400 requested mental health assistance. 

Mitchell said the college also will start a behavioral intervention team this year made up of staff, faculty, administrators and mental health professionals who will review instances of behavioral issues that involve students and employees and act to de-escalate those situations.

鈥淲e have a lot of stuff in the works,鈥� said Mitchell, who added that EPCC provides a link to 鈥淢ental Health Resources鈥� at the bottom of every college web page.

Among UTEP鈥檚 efforts to provide greater academic support include its recent hiring of 19 advisers who were assigned to specific schools to assist students with everything from academics to personal emergencies. Officials expect those advisers to have a significant effect on student retention and progression rates.

Edens noted that the need for mental health services has grown during the past 10 years. UTEP spends about $1 million annually on mental health counseling support services.

The UT System Board of Regents recently announced a $16.5 million investment in student mental health services across its institutions. Part of UTEP鈥檚 portion will go toward free 24/7 online and telephone hotlines. Additionally, UTEP will add two interns to its counseling staff.

The university also invested about $147,000 of its COVID Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds to purchase five multi-use 鈥減rivacy鈥� pods strategically placed around campus to provide students a quiet and secure place for a virtual counseling session. Students also could use the pods for general meetings with professors or to take an exam.

鈥淚t鈥檚 to the point where we are almost having difficulty accommodating the large number of students that are needing support, which is why these 24/7 hotlines and these other resources are going to be critically valuable moving forward,鈥� Edens said.

After returning to school following the COVID-19 pandemic, students across El Paso have been caught vaping THC 鈥� the psychoactive component in marijuana that causes a 鈥渉igh鈥� 鈥�  in bathrooms, hallways and even in class.

鈥淪ome of these kids are just being blatant about using vapes,鈥� Socorro Independent School District Police Chief George Johnson said.

This led to a dramatic rise in minors, some as young as 10, facing felony charges for possession of THC concentrates.

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In the third of a four-part series on juvenile THC vaping, El Paso Matters explores how school districts are dealing with a growing number of disciplinary cases while figuring out how to stop students from vaping.

Many have installed special sensors that detect vaping and notify school staff; had drug-sniffing police dogs make searches; given presentations on the consequences of vaping THC, and implemented new measures on how to deal with those who have been caught.

Any student who possesses, uses, or is under the influence of marijuana on school property must be removed from class and placed in a disciplinary alternative education program or juvenile justice alternative education program, which often requires expulsion from their current school, according to the . The code also states administrators must consider certain factors, like disability and disciplinary history, before sending a student to alternative school.

In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill meant to give schools more control over which students get sent to these schools, which is typically meant for students who commit violent crimes and pose a danger to their peers. House Bill 114 goes into effect in September.

With this vague guidance from the state, policies and disciplinary methods can sometimes vary from school to school within the same district.

Some have begun taking a restorative approach that aims to educate students on vaping THC while allowing the legal system to dole out punishment.

鈥淚f we remove students from the classroom for a suspension or expulsion, it has a negative impact on their education, a negative impact on likelihood young people will graduate or how likely they are to attend college,鈥� said Jeffrey Willett, the national vice president of integrated strategies for the American Heart Association during a presentation on vaping with El Paso school administrators in June.

The presentation was hosted by the Paso Del Norte Foundation as part of its

The rise of THC vaping cases caused at least one local alternative school to become overwhelmed with students during the 2022-23 school year.

鈥淚’ve worked at Cesar Chavez (Academy) and oh my god, there’s a lot of kids,鈥� said El Paso Police Officer Andres Rodriguez during a presentation with the El Paso Advocates for Prevention Coalition in July.

鈥淭hey鈥檒l all be coming down to Cesar Chavez because they get caught with a vape,鈥� Rodriguez said about the alternative school in the Ysleta Independent School District.

鈥淰ery few are coming in here for fighting or any of the other issues that they may be having. So the vast majority of our students here are for THC versus before where you had a decent mix of various reasons why they might be coming in,鈥� Ivan Martinez, a social studies teacher at Keys Academy, added.

Keys Academy, an alternative school with SISD, has been struggling with an overflow of students, with classes reaching capacity multiple times during the school year, emails obtained by El Paso Matters show.

鈥淲e are currently at capacity with KEYS placements, and we are asking that middle schools keep their current placements at eight students so we can accommodate all pending schools’ recommendations,鈥� stated an email sent to SISD administrators in February from KEYS Academy Assistant Principal Daniel Delgado.

Records show that both EPISD and SISD saw an increase in alternative education placements during this last school year. 贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 alternative school placements rose about 14% to about 1,700 during the 2022-23 school year over the previous year. SISD鈥檚 alternative school placements rose by 15% to 820 during that same time frame. These numbers include placement for all disciplinary offenses, not just those related to THC.

Martinez said he has also noticed that placing students at Keys Academy hasn鈥檛 been very successful in getting kids to stop vaping THC.

鈥淭he majority of the sentiment I hear from the students is that they want to be smarter about trying to hide it or just not bringing it to school, but probably still use at home,鈥� Martinez said. 鈥淣ow there are a few that do say it was a mistake and are just going to stay away from that and stay clean, but it鈥檚 not the majority.鈥�

Though school districts are required to track disciplinary violations and report them to the Texas Education Agency, administrators say it is still difficult to get a full scope of just how many students are getting caught vaping THC.

School districts can report a disciplinary incident involving THC vaping devices as either a standard controlled substance violation, which can include regular marijuana, or as a felony controlled substance violation that can include other controlled substances like cocaine or meth.

Still, disciplinary reports show that the number of drug-related violations has been on the rise since students returned to school from the pandemic, and administrators say it is mostly related to THC.

During the 2022-23 school year, the El Paso Independent School District reported 655 combined drug violations, SISD reported 568 and YISD reported 584. During the previous school year, EPISD reported roughly 400 of these cases, SISD reported 340 and the Ysleta Independent School District reported 490.

Records obtained by El Paso Matters show that about 880 鈥� or 60% 鈥� THC vaping-related arrests that were reported to the El Paso Juvenile Probation Department between April 2019 and April 2023 were conducted by school resource officers.

However, the number that took place in schools is likely higher since local law enforcement will assist school districts without their own police force. About 37% of these arrests were conducted by SISD police and over 21% were done by EPISD Police.

YISD, the third largest district in the county, does not have its own police force and works with the El Paso Police Department in cases when students are caught vaping THC. The department made roughly 26% of these arrests in the same period, including those that took place outside of YISD.

Still, this does not include arrests for students who were 17 or older and were charged as adults.

Johnson noted that one of the reasons so many charges come from SISD is because of its heightened police presence on its campuses.

鈥淚 believe the issue is nationwide, I don’t think it’s isolated just to us, but here in El Paso we have the largest school-based law enforcement agency locally,鈥� Johnson said.

Though EPISD and SISD have a similar population, with 50,000 and 48,000 students respectively, Johnson said SISD had more officers on staff and fewer schools for them to patrol. According to 贰笔滨厂顿鈥檚 website, the district has 42 police officers who are tasked with monitoring the district鈥檚 roughly 80 schools. Johnson said SISD has about 70 officers on staff with only 53 schools to patrol.

A restorative approach

While expulsion to alternative schools is one of the most common consequences for students caught vaping THC in Texas, research shows that it can have negative long-term consequences.

One found that students involved in a school disciplinary system were more likely to be held back a grade and drop out of school.

Another also found that suspending and expelling students have lower college enrollment rates, lower graduation rates and are more likely to get involved in the criminal justice system in the future.

A number of health organizations, including the American Heart Association, are now advocating for schools to take a restorative approach that provides alternatives to exclusionary discipline by keeping kids in class and attempting to address the root cause of students vaping.

Willett, of the AHA, said this may include treating mental health issues.

A in 2020 found that students who vape THC, nicotine or both reported significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts than their peers who don鈥檛 vape.

鈥淲e don’t know the relationship in terms of causality, but we do know that many young people are using vaping products, both nicotine and cannabis, because they likely falsely perceive that it provides relief for anxiety and depression,鈥� Willett said.

Disciplinary measures that do not address some of those underlying issues may exacerbate them, Willett added.

In response to a growing number of students vaping, some schools began changing the way they deal with disciplinary cases.

During the 2022-23 school year, YISD implemented a new program for students who were caught vaping, either nicotine or THC, for the first time meant to keep them out of an alternative school setting.

鈥淲e started to see this uptick last year, so we went with the proactive approach and we established a vaping first offender program,鈥� Department of Student Services Director Diana Yadira Mooy said. 鈥淭he legal side still takes its course if it’s THC, but here in our district, our approach is more to emphasize the importance of educating the students on the potential health risk and consequences of THC.鈥�

YISD is also the only of El Paso鈥檚 three largest school districts to see a decline in alternative school placements. During the 2021-22 school year, the district had 706 students sent to alternative school. That number dropped to 645 in the 2022-23 school year.

As part of the program, students are required to complete a curriculum where they learn about the health consequences of vaping and marijuana use. Mooy said they have students talk to a counselor who checks for underlying issues such as addiction, anxiety or depression, and help refer them to treatment.

The students鈥� parents are also required to attend a meeting where they learn about the health and legal consequences of vaping THC.

鈥淧art of the parent meeting is not only to inform them of the heavy consequences, but also addressing the root cause and providing that support to hopefully reduce those incidents in the future,鈥� Mooy said.

Mooy said that over 550 students who were caught vaping either THC or nicotine had taken part in the program during its first year.

One school in SISD, Pebble Hills High School, also implemented a vaping first-offender program with some questionable methods.

During the nine-week program, students caught vaping are allowed to attend their regular classes and required to wear a uniform 鈥� something their peers don鈥檛 have to do.

The goal of the program is to reduce the number of students attending alternative schools and continue with their regular instruction, said Andrea Cruz, assistant superintendent of administrative services at SISD.

鈥淭he program allows students to continue with their classes and minimizes the learning and credit loss,鈥� Cruz said.

Cruz said the program is currently under review, and it is likely other schools in the district may implement something similar.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

A faculty member at the University of Texas at El Paso was grading a composition during the spring 2023 semester, and suspected that it was not the student鈥檚 work 鈥� until she got to that one sentence.

The instructor of the upper-level course with a strong writing component believed the essay was prepared, at least in part, by ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence program that launched last November. With a few prompts, users of the free AI program can produce essays, research papers, computer code and more with relative ease.

To stymie ChatGPT, the lecturer directed her students to base one of their answers on how they related to the assigned readings. The answer from the student in question did not sound like a student鈥檚 鈥渧oice.鈥� The final confirmation was the inclusion of something like 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a personal experience because I鈥檓 AI.鈥�

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The student, who earned a zero for his paper, acknowledged his offense and apologized to the instructor, who did not want to be named. The student is among those who tried to cut academic corners with ChatGPT. In most cases, these indiscretions were handled at the classroom level. More serious offenses were submitted to the university鈥檚 Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution, or OSCCR.

鈥淚’d like to see more suggestions or training on how to proactively address ChatGPT with my students rather than solely acting in the role of ‘catching’ and disciplining them,鈥� the faculty member said.

To , UTEP conducted a series of workshops late last spring to inform faculty about the pervasive use of ChatGPT and other forms of AI. UTEP鈥檚 Center for Faculty Leadership and Development organized the presentations to increase awareness and, where possible, to educate faculty on how to use AI effectively in the classroom and as an assessment tool. About 50 university instructors from throughout the university attended the presentations.

Jeffrey Olimpo, director of the faculty leadership center, said the main concern workshop participants shared with him was students鈥� unethical use of ChatGPT and AI in general. His response was that AI is not going away.

鈥淲e came at it from an angle of, 鈥榊ou can鈥檛 put the toothpaste back in the tube,鈥欌�� Olimpo said a few weeks after the last workshop.

The event鈥檚 presenters included representatives from OSCCR and the Provost鈥檚 Office. Olimpo recalled that the OSCCR official said that his office already had seen some potential ChatGPT cases.

Strategize, don鈥檛 demonize

The Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution conducted 20 investigations into possible cases of academic dishonesty tied to the use of AI during the spring 2023 semester, according to the university. UTEP did not respond to a question about how those cases were resolved and said that OSCCR director Jovita Sim贸n would not comment on this story.

While the university was aware of ChatGPT鈥檚 potential downsides, Olimpo said there was no reason to chase it down with torches and pitchforks.

鈥淲e try to strategize and not demonize,鈥� he said.

Arthur Ramirez, a second-year UTEP doctoral student in finance, said he began to test ChatGPT soon after it launched to learn if it could help with his research. Initially, he was concerned with its inaccuracies, but found it helpful with coding, especially with better prompts, and to understand certain charts. He said the only instructions a professor gave him was to follow the university鈥檚 guidelines.

鈥淗e said there was no right or wrong way to use ChatGPT,鈥� Ramirez said. 鈥淛ust don鈥檛 abuse it.鈥�

Responding to an El Paso Matters Instagram request for students to share their experiences, one UTEP student said that some of his professors encouraged students to use ChatGPT, while others warned them not to use it for plagiarism.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 see what the big deal is,鈥� wrote the student who identified himself as 鈥渟ergio.iii.鈥�

Sergio.iii called the AI program an effective study and communication tool with the right prompts. He said it helped create outlines for papers, add focus to his PowerPoint presentations and often gave more understandable explanations to complicated topics.

鈥淭he students using ChatGPT unethically aren鈥檛 even being smart about it,鈥� he wrote via Instagram. El Paso Matters reached out to the user, but he did not respond. 鈥淢ost people use it in a brain-dead way where they just copy and paste answers straight out of ChatGPT and they end up with responses that look identical to a dozen other students.鈥�

Leslie Waters, an assistant professor of history, did not offer ChatGPT instructions at the start of the spring 2023 semester. She believed the obscure primary source material from her 20th century European history course would be AI-proof. In one case she gave students copies of letters written by soldiers and their families during World War I and asked them to write essays based on the letters鈥� themes.

Three of her students submitted papers that focused generally on the war, but did not mention the letters or their themes. Additionally, the essays included ChatGPT red flags: grammatically correct sentences that lacked analysis and critical thinking. Each of those students earned low scores. Waters planned to send one of those cases to OSCCR, which she said uses software that can detect AI-generated material.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy (for me) to prove, but it鈥檚 extremely easy for me to detect,鈥� she said of ChatGPT work.

Her plan for the fall 2023 semester is to talk to her students about the perils of using ChatGPT, and to encourage them to stay on top of their coursework. It is her experience that students cheat out of desperation. She will give multi-level assignments that force students to submit papers at various stages to keep track of their progress.

Olimpo did not respond to several requests for the recommendations generated by his spring workshops, but he previously proposed that a faculty committee review and possibly update the university鈥檚 general course syllabus in regards to the use of AI tools.

A June 2023 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education included the results of a faculty survey of how to work with ChatGPT this fall. Two of the more popular ideas were to alter assignments to make AI participation less useful, and to incorporate AI in some work to help students understand its strengths and weaknesses.

As for El Paso Community College, its ChatGPT directive to students is to follow their professors鈥� instructions for assignments and the academic guidelines in the college鈥檚 Student Code of Conduct, said Keri Moe, associate vice president for External Relations Communication & Development.

鈥淐hatGPT, like any technology available, must be used with academic integrity and in accordance with these guidelines,鈥� Moe said.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Campus El Paso did not respond to a request for instructions on how its leaders want faculty and students to use ChatGPT.

Academic integrity

While some faculty members want to use AI tools such as Turnitin to catch cheaters, Sarah Elaine Eaton, an associate professor in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, in Canada, advised them to not overreact.

During a May 16 virtual forum about 鈥淎cademic Integrity and AI,鈥� Eaton said that instructors should include a statement in their syllabus about the AI they plan to use to help with their assessments and inform the students about the limitations of those programs.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not about trying to use technology in order to catch students,鈥� Eaton said during the presentation. 鈥淣obody wins in an academic-integrity arms race. Deceptive assessment using tools and technologies without students鈥� knowledge ahead of time is not modeling integrity.鈥�

Greg Beam, an associate professor of practice in UTEP Department of Communication, said that he taught an asynchronous virtual course this summer and strongly suspected that some students submitted work done by chatbots. He posted a video on Blackboard where he explained the right and wrong way to use ChatGPT.

Beam told the students that those who admitted that they used the technology improperly would be allowed to redo the assignment with no penalty. Additionally, he told them that he would contact those who did not come forward to ask them follow-up questions about their submissions to verify that they understood the material.

The professor said about 10% of those students redid the assignment. He suspected a few others, but those submissions lacked the tell-tale red flags. It made him wonder if some students had mastered ChatGPT enough to be undetectable.

鈥淔or the most part, at UTEP at least, I don’t think students want to cheat 鈥� they want to learn,鈥� Beam said. 鈥淎nd they’re just as concerned about the potential ramifications of these new technologies as the rest of us are.鈥�

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Children and adults who would benefit from various therapies to learn or to regain certain developmental abilities can get that help and more during three consecutive four-day that start July 17 at the University of Texas at El Paso.

For the second year in a row, UTEP鈥檚 Speech, Language and Hearing Clinic will conduct its free bilingual sessions from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Campbell Building, 1101 N. Campbell St. Each two-hour lesson will balance work with fun, organizers said.

Twenty-nine of UTEP鈥檚 speech-language pathology graduate students, backed by four clinical faculty and a staff member, will assist participants ages 5 to senior adults to work on their voice, fluency, aphasia, social skills, and/or the effects of traumatic brain injury to name a few areas.

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Among the participants who plans to attend all three sessions is Kivana Herrera, a 19-year-old Sunset Heights resident on the global developmental delay spectrum. In other words, it takes her longer to achieve certain developmental milestones. Her focus this summer will be to enhance her speech and social skills.

鈥淪he loves it,鈥� said Iris Herrera, Kivana鈥檚 mother. 鈥淭hey work on things, but they are made to be fun and exciting, so it doesn鈥檛 feel like therapy. We think (the summer sessions) are awesome. We wish there were more.鈥�

Herrera said one of Kivana鈥檚 speech therapists recommended in spring 2022 that the family try UTEP鈥檚 summer sessions. The mother said those sessions helped Kivana increase the number of words she uses in a sentence.

As a result, the family registered Kivana for the free SLHC, which conducts one-on-one sessions during the academic year. These also are important for UTEP鈥檚 speech-language pathology students who learn how to conduct assessments and suggest treatments under the supervision of faculty, who are licensed speech-language pathologists.

Herrera said that Kivana enjoys working with the therapists because most are young, and they can talk about clothes, trips, music and social activities. She added that the UTEP therapists have great personalities, and know how to motivate her daughter to work harder.

Herrera鈥檚 praise brought a smile to UTEP鈥檚 Deena Peterson, coordinator of the summer sessions and a clinical instructor of speech language and hearing sciences. Those comments echoed the verbal and written feedback Peterson received from families of participants from the previous summer, especially from families of school-age children who do not receive therapy outside the academic year.

Many noted how the sessions made their loved ones more competent and confident in their ability to communicate. They mentioned the enthusiasm of the student therapists and their genuine desire to help. As of mid-June, a good percentage of those registered for the 2023 sessions had participated last summer.

Peterson said that these free activities help El Paso鈥檚 underserved community members, who sometimes exhaust their health care benefits. She expects to enroll about 100 people for the summer sessions. The participants, separated by age and therapy needs, will use several of the labs, classrooms and conference rooms on the building鈥檚 first and second floors. The participant-student ratio will be less than 2-1.

Susan Maga帽a and Kristin Apodaca, both second-year speech language pathology graduate students, said they enjoyed the one-on-one sessions as part of the clinic, but looked forward to group therapy to practice behavior management techniques and working with children and adults with different goals. They talked about the upcoming sessions in the main therapy lab, which includes two walls with shelves stacked high with colorful toys, books and games used during the clinics and summer sessions.

鈥淲e鈥檒l get to learn a lot at the same time,鈥� said Maga帽a, a 1987 Austin High School graduate who, with her husband, operated a used car lot and home remodeling business before she decided to return to school after her children reached adulthood.

Her interest in her second career was personal. She raised four children with various disabilities to include hearing loss, dyslexia, high-functioning autism and attention-deficit disorder. In recent years, she witnessed her grandparents deal with their Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. In all cases, she saw how effective therapists could be.

Maga帽a said that the summer sessions were a great way children could bridge the therapy gap between the academic years.

Apodaca, a 2019 graduate of Hanks High School, has been interested in a speech language pathology career since high school when she would attend health fairs with her mother, a speech-language pathologist who was happy to help others improve their quality of life through therapy. One thing she has learned as an SLP student is that therapy is harder than it appears.

鈥淚t looks as if we鈥檙e playing, but there is a lot of intention behind everything we do because of how the brain and speech work,鈥� Apodaca said. 鈥淵ou have to find the right strategies for the client.鈥�

Apodaca said she looked forward to working with and learning from her clients, as well as the other members of her cohort.

鈥淵ou know that everyone鈥檚 heart is in it,鈥� Apodaca said. 鈥淓veryone wants to give back.鈥�

Online registration is the best way to secure a spot, but people who cannot register online may contact the program at 915-747-7250 or speechclinic@utep.edu. Those individuals will need to come early on the first day of the session to fill out the necessary consent agreements.

Peterson said she plans to invite representatives from family resource centers to set up information tables in the first-floor student lounge for parents, guardians and caregivers who must stay during the sessions. After the lessons, the student therapists will debrief the parents/caregivers about the therapy conducted that day and how they can continue the learning process at home.

The work the UTEP students do during the summer sessions will benefit them during the 2023-24 academic year as they will work in school and hospital settings prior to graduation.

The summer sessions will follow a separate activity for children ages 5 to 17 who stutter. will operate from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 10-14 in the Campbell Building. This free, intensive therapy program was organized by the at the University of Texas at Austin.

Peterson, who is familiar with the bilingual camp but not associated with it, said the center involves a lot of resources and a lot of fun to include a live deejay daily. She added that the same 29 graduate students who will be part of her sessions will help at the UT Austin camp.

鈥淚t鈥檚 awesome,鈥� Peterson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be fun for the kids. It will be a fun, interactive environment.”

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Among the goals of the recent LatinX Edtech Summit: Bridging the Digital Divide was to connect local educators and emerging technology entrepreneurs who could collaborate on an idea that could generate a long-term impact that would benefit underrepresented students and communities.

About 140 K-12 and higher education teachers, administrators, business leaders, technology investors and representatives from national organizations with vested interests in all levels of education gathered for the second annual summit on June 16, 2023, in the Region 19 Starlight Event Center, 6650 Continental Drive, near the El Paso International Airport.

Whether in the main hall or in the exhibit area, summit participants talked about technology and its application. Buzzing among the participants was Joseph Sapien, CEO and executive director of the STTE (Success Through Technology Education) Foundation, the event鈥檚 lead organizer.

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Sapien helped found STTE, an El Paso-based nonprofit that works to develop, deploy and advance educational programs to enhance the chances that tomorrow鈥檚 students are digitally literate and ready to join the 21st-century workforce.

鈥淎 year, two years, five years from now, because of those connections, education and technology are going to be exponentially advanced,鈥� he said while exhibitors pitched their tech products in the background. 鈥淭he technologies that are here are very fascinating. I鈥檓 looking forward to seeing what happens because of this event.鈥�

Pew Research Center reports from 2021 and 2022 showed that while many Hispanics use smartphones, not as many own computers or have internet access to save money. This digital exclusion means that more than half of the Latino workforce is not ready to be part of the digital economy. The summit is among the ongoing efforts to enhance digital equity in Latino households, especially those in rural communities. These plans include access to affordable broadband, which experts believe will lead to the improved digital skills needed for today鈥檚 tech jobs.

Eddie Rodriguez, executive director of CREEED (Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Education Development), one of the summit鈥檚 sponsors, said the main thing his organization wanted to stress was a continuous commitment to higher education to achieve economic success.

Rodriguez said that a high-quality public education should provide students, regardless of their socio-economic background, with a launching point for a productive life.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take every shoulder to the wheel to effectively get us to that destination that will increase the trajectory of our economic opportunity,鈥� Rodriguez said.

The CREEED official moderated one of the summit鈥檚 panel discussions about the importance of technology in rural areas. The panelists were Veronica Vijil, Rosy Vega-Barrio and Oscar Troncoso, who are superintendents of the Fabens, Tornillo and Anthony independent school districts, respectively. These small districts serve rural communities on the western and eastern edges of El Paso.

The trio noted how the pandemic sped up the use of technology at the K-12 level, and quickly raised the competency of teachers for virtual instruction, but it also revealed the need to expand internet access to allow greater communication between schools and students and their households.

Troncoso said that a side benefit was that parents, who often were Spanish speakers, could use their child鈥檚 laptop to access language applications to learn English. He also said that students who mastered the technology became eligible for more college scholarship opportunities to include some for competitive Esports at New Mexico State University.

The trio touted how artificial intelligence (AI) programs could be powerful tools to help their students to improve their English proficiency, especially in written communication, and to give a voice to students with disabilities by enhancing their social skills.

Jacob Fraire, president of the ECMC Foundation, another summit sponsor, said he expected to hear new ideas from Latino leaders in education, technology and entrepreneurship about how tech-enabled learning could benefit Latino students, which is a growing community across the state and the country and one that traditionally underperforms at the post-secondary level compared to white students.

According to recent U.S. Census Bureau data, the population of Texas passed 30 million in 2022. Of that, 49.3% of the population age 17 and younger are Hispanic. The same data showed that only 70% of Hispanic adults earned a high school diploma and only 18% received a college degree.

Fraire said ECMC, a Los Angeles-based organization, works to improve higher education and career opportunities for underserved populations throughout the country that do not traditionally graduate from colleges and universities.

鈥淲e’re hoping to bring to light those ideas of how we can do better,鈥� Fraire said. 鈥淚n order for us to serve the Latino community more effectively, we have to be intentional about our saying that in this community, we intend to serve explicitly. That’s why we’re here today.鈥�

One of the event鈥檚 keynote speakers, Sarita E. Brown, co-founder and president of said she was at the summit because Excelencia wants to work with institutions that reach Latino students, serve them well, and propel them into the workforce and society.

Brown said her organization is well aware of El Paso鈥檚 strengths and potential, and that the summit highlights the region鈥檚 ability to combine human capital with practical and tactical solutions. She lauded its residents, who for decades were underrepresented and underestimated, because they made the most of their bilingualism and biculturalism, especially as first-generation college students. Now the state, the nation and the world see the 鈥渧ibrance鈥� in the area because of UTEP being a top-level academic research university and the expansion of El Paso Community College. The student populations at both of those institutions are heavily Latino.

She said the summit was an opportunity for academic leaders to listen to entrepreneurs and technology developers about cutting-edge ideas that could benefit their students. She said that her question for every educator and tech person in the room was how they plan to efficiently connect with each other to benefit Latinos, who will make up a larger percentage of higher education students in the future.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e definitely looking at challenges, but are rising to meet them,鈥� she said.

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Mickayla Biddle vaguely remembers being a kindergartener in a rambunctious class and thinking to herself that she wanted to be a 鈥渟trict鈥� teacher when she grew up.

鈥淚’m going to make those kids be quiet,鈥� she would tell herself.

Now at 17, the visually impaired from Chaparral High School is preparing to become a teacher for other visually impaired students. She just completed the Gadsden Independent School District鈥檚 Teacher Cadet program, which allowed her to gain some classroom experience.

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The cadet program allowed Biddle to work with a young visually impaired student from Riverside Elementary School, Axel Gonzalez, and that sparked her passion for education.

鈥淚 just told my instructors at the end of last school year, 鈥業 can’t leave Axel by himself. He’s my fourth-grade student,鈥欌�� Biddle told El Paso Matters in an interview.

Biddle, who was born blind, said her experiences and the challenges she faced growing up allowed her to relate to Axel, and help him learn to operate the assistive technology blind students use to do their schoolwork.

鈥淗e was having issues with his technology. He couldn鈥檛 figure it out,鈥� Biddle said during an interview with a television reporter. 鈥淗e was behind in language arts. He鈥檚 totally blind just like me, so when he doesn’t know how to maneuver the device, or he’s having troubles with certain contractions or numbers in Braille, I’m like, 鈥業 get it.鈥欌��

Biddle and her teachers said this shared understanding helped Axel do better in school and the teachers hope Biddle can do the same for other students with visual impairments.

鈥淲hen Mickayla came in to teach the same concept, (Axel) seemed to have picked it up faster, obviously because of how they relate,鈥� Biddle鈥檚 teacher, Rachael Rivera, said in an interview. 鈥淢ickayla had a better way of explaining it than I did.鈥�

Rivera, who specializes in teaching students with visual impairments, started working with Biddle when she was only 3 years old.

鈥淪he came in just like any other kid. She was in regular pre-K and just right away Mickayla was very, very outgoing,鈥� Rivera said. 鈥淪he was a sponge. She wanted to know everything. I would maybe describe some things and then she would say, 鈥榖ut why?鈥� Or 鈥榟ow does it work?鈥欌��

Rivera said that when Mickayla first started with the teacher cadet program, the student would sit by her side helping her teach. Eventually, Rivera let the fledgling educator take control and experience 鈥渢he ups and downs of being a teacher.鈥�

鈥淎nd she really, really enjoyed it,鈥� Rivera added.

Growing up blind

Along with facing the trials and tribulations that came along with being a teenage girl, Biddle also faced unique challenges going to school as a visually impaired person.

She said it was often easy to mix up the numbers 鈥�5鈥� and 鈥�9鈥� in Braille and talked about how challenging it can be to learn to use new assistive technology, like the . The device connects to apps like Google Classroom and Google Docs, where visually impaired students can work on their assignments.

Biddle said that she has also dealt with social isolation as one of the few visually impaired students in her rural community.

鈥淎ll my life, except for when I visited the , I’ve been the only visually impaired student in the entire school. Sometimes that could be difficult,鈥� Biddell told El Paso Matters. 鈥淚 sort of feel like the blind outsider. Like everybody’s just trying to jump out of my way, everybody’s apparently just gawking at me every day. It gets a bit frustrating.鈥�

Though Biddle struggled to bond with her peers, she learned she had good teachers she could connect with.

鈥淚 would always miss my teacher at the end of the school year,鈥� Biddle said. 鈥淚 would literally dream about all my teachers being at my house and we were having this giant party with them. Little did I know that I was going to become a teacher.鈥�

Despite the challenges she faced, Biddle thrived academically. She graduated fifth in her class with a 3.8 GPA. She was a member of the National Honor Society and received multiple accolades including the First American Bank Scholarship.

Biddle also found joy in her hobbies like and arts and crafts. The teen said she uses a special crafts kit with uniquely textured materials that allow her to tell them apart.

鈥淢y most popular thing that I make is an angel. It’s a little container with a child-proof lid so they can put anything in there,鈥� Biddle said.

As Biddle prepared to say goodbye to high school, the moment was bittersweet for her teachers who watched her learn and grow into the person she is today.

鈥淓very kid is different, but it is probably going to be very difficult for us because we’ve had her since 3-1/2,鈥� Rivera said of losing Biddle. 鈥淏ut we always tell her, you know our phone lines are always open if you need any help.鈥�

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Jessica Sotelo was three courses shy of an associate degree in criminal justice from El Paso Community College when she opened a small nail salon in May 2018 on the Westside.

Her goal was to make enough money to put herself through college.

Instead, the then 20-year-old entrepreneur put aside her academic dreams to focus on her business, The Nail Club. Today, Sotelo has two salons and plans to open a third. She also has taken the initial steps to return to EPCC this fall to complete her degree.

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According to an April 2023 report published by the the number of adult Texans in July 2021 with some college credits but no higher education credential rose to more than 2.6 million, which was a 4.5% increase from the previous year. That was bigger than the national growth of 3.6%.

Sotelo wants her associate degree because she likes to finish what she starts, but she also plans to enroll at the University of Texas at El Paso at some point to pursue a bachelor鈥檚 degree in finance or accounting to support her business. Her immediate goal is to build a cosmetology team that can manage her salons when she is not there.

鈥淚 wanted to work and go to school, but then the business was successful,鈥� said Sotelo, who tried to do both as she set up her first salon during the spring 2018 semester. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 work.鈥�

Experts believe the pandemic and more employment opportunities with higher wages were among the main reasons behind the increased number of Texans with some college, no degree or credential (SCNDC). For others, the reasons may have included health issues, a lack of funds, or changed responsibilities at home. Higher education leaders hope that many of those people will return to continue or complete their academic journeys.

Tom Fullerton, UTEP professor of economics and finance, said it was important for students to complete their degrees or technical certifications because 鈥渢hat complete package鈥� will enhance their knowledge and make them stronger candidates for jobs where degrees and credentials are needed.

But Fullerton was not dismayed by the increased SCNDC numbers. He referenced a recently published study that showed the percentage of Texans who drop out of high school fell to 15.2% in 2021 from 19.3% in 2012. He said more people finish high school, enroll in college, learn what they need to get a job, and leave college to enter the workforce.

鈥淥nce they get a job, they don鈥檛 necessarily see the benefit of finishing a college degree, which can be expensive,鈥� Fullerton said.

The UTEP professor said that in a service sector, information-age economy, many jobs do not require technical certification or a college degree, but they may involve training beyond high school. Experts have stated that by 2030, up to 70% of all new jobs will require some post-secondary education.

鈥淭he fact that they are taking additional education credits above and beyond secondary school increases their productivity and increases the overall labor force quality for the state,鈥� Fullerton said.

Mark Garrett Cooper, a professor of media studies at the University of South Carolina at Columbia, wrote in a recent opinion piece in The Chronicle of Higher Education that a college degree does not always mean that graduates have the skills an employer wants.

鈥淎nyone paying attention to the non-academic job market will know that skills, rather than specific majors, are the predominant currency,鈥� he wrote.

鈥楢 big concern鈥�

Those behind the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center study countered that it was important to change the SCNDC trend because the U.S. will face a skilled-worker shortage as more employees retire.

According to the 2021 U.S. Census Bureau鈥檚 American Community Survey, the most recent data available, El Paso鈥檚 population age 25 and older was 542,747. Of that number, 21% had some college, but no degree. Almost 35% had an associate degree or higher.

While neither EPCC nor UTEP provided the numbers of their stop outs, both shared some of their efforts to contact those former students and entice them to return.

EPCC expanded its Recruitment Services in fall 2020 to include a small, but growing call center that contacts students who have been out of school for a year. The call center clerks are especially interested in those students who are close to earning their degree or credential. In some cases, it could be as close as 15 credit hours for a 60-hour degree.

Depending on the reasons for stopping out, the center will try to connect the student with the campus office to address the situation. For example, if the issue was financial, the student will receive information about the availability of additional Pell grants, scholarships or other financial aid. For students with time conflicts, an adviser may suggest a multidisciplinary studies degree tailored to their interests and their earned course credits.

鈥淩ight now, (stopped-out students) are doing OK because wages are up, but what鈥檚 going to happen when the workforce changes, and (employees) don鈥檛 have a credential behind them,鈥� said Carlos C. Amaya, vice president of Student & Enrollment Services. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a big concern.鈥�

Amaya added that a growing number of returning students, especially males, are enrolling in courses for credentials or for an associate of applied science degree, which involves specific technical skills, so they can enter the workforce quickly.

The University of Texas at El Paso created in 2021 its Enrollment Success Center, an arm of the Division of Student Affairs, to provide stopped-out students with helpful information about financial aid and course advice as well as re-enrollment. A university spokesman said that in fall 2022, the institution used all its efforts to re-enroll more than 1,800 students who had stopped out of UTEP.

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