For many educators and support staff, August is a time of preparation for the new school year, but for 205 downsized El Paso Independent School District employees, there are only conundrums.
Although the reason was financial exigency rooted in questionable largescale moves well before the momentous downsizing vote, one of the most personal and profound things an individual can suffer is no longer being able to support themselves and their family.
Also lost are deep connections formed with students and colleagues.
When EPISD students return to the classroom Monday, Aug. 3, those broken bonds will be as real as the pain that comes with no longer seeing that inspiring educator, perhaps their only real connection, in the school halls.
“I was with the district for about three years and I started as a tutor for students at high risk of losing their homes or were in the foster care system,” said Jesus Carreño, a former high school social studies teacher. “I later became a long-term substitute teacher and finally worked at Jefferson Silva High School. I had a student who graduated after a difficult situation and he hugged me and told me he couldn’t have done it without me.”
Carreño recalled stories of homeless students and others with dire family circumstances for whom he advocated with social services and bonded with through board games. Explaining district economics to students seemingly returned to the same heart-wrenching question, “but why you? It’s not your fault.”
A few weeks ago, Carreno received word that he would be rehired at EPISD’s Franklin High School. But while he is returning to the classroom, other laid-off educators will remain on the sidelines when the first bell rings Monday morning.
The impending financial exigency, or “bankruptcy for schools” as he simplified it for students asking about the news, led to earnest conversations about him possibly not being there the following term.
Layoffs beget a unique brand of cynicism when they come at the burgeoning stage of a career. Carreño is not unlike many young teachers in El Paso and Texas who admit education “isn’t the career it was a few years ago when people said there was need for more teachers,” he said.
Norma De La Rosa, president of the El Paso Teachers Association, can sympathize with Carreño’s loyalty to his students.
After 40 years of teaching in El Paso and now leading one of the most visible unions for educators, the tears of students who find it difficult to leave a teacher who reached them are still fresh in her mind.
“As a teacher, one of the goals is to establish mutual respect and trust with students,” De La Rosa said. “It’s heartbreaking when you lose that connection with students and their parents. Those connections don’t happen overnight, and you have to break through all those barriers they built around themselves.”
For an educator, De La Rosa remembered, the greatest praise is a student who does not want to move on to another teacher. The abrupt nature of layoffs cares little for those honest moments and is a reminder of the hard lessons found on a district balance sheet.
Her roles as both a seasoned educator and union leader bleed into one another and make dealing with downsizing just as personal as it is a call to action to protect as many of her members as she can.
“What’s happening right now with these (layoffs) is that those kids are going to have a hard time when those teachers aren’t there,” she said. “It’s very difficult not to be impacted personally when someone is dismissed because my role as an educator never ended, because they’re dealing with the same worries I had when I was still teaching. It’s not easy to not feel the same heartbreak, anger and disillusionment about what’s happening to public education.”
Data by Our School, Our Democracy notes at least 105 public schools in Texas have closed or been formally approved to close since January 2025.
The group for public school advocacy shows that campus shutdowns have dramatically escalated over this timeframe because of severe multi-million-dollar budget deficits and a statewide enrollment drop of 76,000 students.
A total of five public schools have permanently closed in EPISD since 2025, including Carlos Rivera Elementary, Newman Elementary, Putnam Elementary, Rusk Elementary and Zavala Elementary, with an additional two schools formally scheduled to close ahead of the next academic year. Stanton Elementary and Travis Elementary are slated to close during the 2026-27 school term.
“It’s a very frightening time right now for education, but that’s what keeps me going,” De La Rosa said.
Layoffs trigger ‘grieving process’
Laura McLaughlin, a licensed professional counselor in private practice, knows all too well the stress that even the possibility of downsizing can cause. Clients in the education field are no strangers to districts veering towards austerity measures.
“There are many mismatched ideals about what education should be and what it actually turns out to be, which is disheartening,” McLaughlin said. “If we tell ourselves that things like layoffs shouldn’t have happened, then we get stuck in feedback loops where we try to control those things we cannot. Even if you’re not the one downsized, once the survivor’s guilt wears off, now you’re the one responsible for the extra classwork.”
Surviving the psychological impact of layoffs means beginning to understand what happened.
“It absolutely is a grieving process,” McLaughlin said. “The initial response is shock, then denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Some will go through this just like any traumatic loss because it is. It’s a decision they didn’t have any control over and there’s helplessness in the grief.”
If there’s no viable option where former employees can apply, then it becomes prolonged complicated grief, McLaughlin noted.
EPISD hears dismissal appeals
The EPISD Board of Trustees officially heard termination appeals from dismissed contract employees during a special board meeting on July 1.
“Every single employee is afforded due process and this was our way of ensuring that. It was important that we approached each individual with respect to their specific situation,” said EPISD Board of Trustees president Leah Hanany. “The hardest part of any of these decisions is that they impact real people who have dedicated years of service to our students.”
For some members of the board, the trauma of witnessing loved ones go through downsizing was a formative memory.
“My dad was laid off in 1993, and I was 7 years old and I still remember my mom dropping the phone when she got word,” said EPISD Board of Trustees vice president Jack Loveridge. “It was a huge shock, and I thought someone had died. It’s such a tumultuous experience and it does upend your life. I was laid off in 2010, and it really does shake you. For me, these layoffs send me back to those experiences.”
Per district policy under the financial exigency declaration, contract employees who were recommended for termination during the June 15 reductions were granted a 15-day window to formally request an appeal hearing.
The district was initially scheduled to hear 10 appeals, with only eight appearing before the board. Only two were overturned on the basis that the dismissed positions were incorrectly identified.
“The district, over years, made promises to people it couldn’t keep. These contracts were promises that you have a career and the potential to grow,” Loveridge said. “These were a commitment by an institution to a person that their profession means something and is valued.”
Kristian Jaime is the Top Story Reporter for the El Paso Times and is reachable at Kjaime@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Life after layoffs: Former EPISD employees rebuild after job cuts
Reporting by Kristian Jaime, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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By Kristian Jaime, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
