At least one new school will be built, and several upgraded, if voters in a northwest El Paso school district approve a $387 million bond this coming May.
Members of the Canutillo Independent School District’s board of trustees have voted to put on the ballot a question that, if passed, will fund the construction of the Northwest Early College High School, as well as taking on heating and cooling upgrades to all of the district’s schools.
Additional facility work will see the installation of new roofs and building security updates.
The projects were proposed after months of study by a district facility advisory task force, with an emphasis being placed on shifting schools from one place to another in order to accommodate ongoing population trends.
The district, which was created in 1959, currently has two high schools, two middle schools, and half a dozen elementary schools.
The Canutillo district has a current enrollment of around 6,000 students, which has remained largely static in recent years. But a report put together three years ago by the Irvine, California-based Cooperative Strategies firm has envisioned an increase to more than 7,000 students by the end of the decade.
At the time of its founding the district had less than 900 students.
Although a recent community survey referenced by the task force indicated that just over 50% of respondents were in support of a new bond, voters in the district in the fall of 2021 defeated a much smaller $187 million bond by a large 65% to 35% margin.
By Garry Boulard
