(EL PASO INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT – July 31, 2026) — As students prepare to return to classrooms for the new school year, El Paso ISD maintenance and operations teams have spent the summer implementing a comprehensive plan to help ensure students learn in safe and comfortable environments, particularly during the hottest weeks of the school year.

The district's Cooling and Comfort Plan focuses on campuses with evaporative cooling systems and outlines a proactive approach that includes equipment assessments, preventative maintenance, campus-specific planning, supplemental cooling resources, and ongoing monitoring once students return.

The Citizen’s Bond Steering Committee (CBSC), consisting of parents, staff, and community stake holders, identified replacing aging evaporative cooling systems (swamp coolers), which cannot be financed through the district's day-to-day operating budget and must be addressed with a bond, as an essential element of the Long-Range Master Plan. For more information about the Long-Range Master Plan, Facility-related needs across the district, including HVAC systems, and a potential bond proposal, please visit episd.org/bond.

"Our goal is to provide every student and staff member with a comfortable environment where they can focus on learning," said David Bates, Deputy Superintendent Operations and Support Systems. "Our teams have been working throughout the summer to ensure we’re putting El Paso’s children’s in the best position to succeed."

Working with campus administrators, the Department of Operations conduced cooling system evaluations of campuses with evaporative cooling systems, prioritized repairs, and identified equipment needs. Maintenance teams have worked to ensure cooling systems are operating efficiently before students return and additional portable cooling units and dry fans have been sourced to be deployed to campuses as needed to improve classroom air circulation and comfort.