State Rep. Vince Perez, state and community leaders speak on Texas Comptroller’s Office review of EPISD
UPDATE (Oct. 30, 2026): El Paso ISD’s Board President Leah Hanany said the district made important strides in managing its money. Friday, district leaders addressed the Texas Comptroller’s performance review in a news conference.
Hanany made it a point to emphasize that she believes the financial state of the district could soon be the best it’s been in years.
“This is district has made significant progress not just towards financial sustainability, but towards academic progress. We are poised to have the first balanced budget in five years. That is huge compared to where we were just six, seven, eight months ago,” she said.
EPISD Superintendent Brian Lusk said the full review from the comptroller’s office will be completed and released before the end of the year.
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Texas State Rep. Vince Perez (D-El Paso) released a list of records requested by the Texas Comptroller’s Office from the El Paso Independent School District for a review announced as an examination of district spending.
Perez held a news conference today alongside representatives from Texas LULAC, LULAC District IV and the Save Our Schools Coalition in Downtown El Paso to announce this.
The requests included the district’s school library catalogue, board policies on parental complaints about human sexuality curriculum and counts of students enrolled using Social Security numbers versus state-approved alternative identification numbers.
According to Texas State Representative Vince Perez’s Office, staff from the Texas Comptroller’s Office were at EPISD this week for the state’s investigation of the district.
In a news release, State Rep. Perez said his office sent a letter to Comptroller Don Huffines about Governor Greg Abbott’s claims of financial mismanagement at EPISD.
The review includes requests for records on students who don’t have Social Security numbers, according to a news release.
Texas Comptroller Don Huffines said earlier this year the reviews of EPISD and three other school districts were designed to determine whether district spending complies with state law and reaches classrooms rather than contributing to administrative growth.
During the announcement, Comptroller Huffines defended the review process, emphasizing accountability in public school funding. “Texans must have confidence that their school tax dollars support educational opportunities for students, not layers of bureaucracy in central administrative offices,” Huffines said in early October.
State Rep. Perez obtained the list after filing a records request on Oct. 28 with EPISD.
Most items requested by the Comptroller’s office covered financial data, including budgets, payroll, contracts, audits and monthly staffing counts; however, three items fell outside standard spending records.
According to a news release sent by State Rep. Perez’s office, the requested records not related to central office budgets included an electronic copy of the district’s school library catalogue, despite separate requests for all purchases exceeding $10,000 and vendor payments of $100,000 or more since Jan. 1, 2021.
The Comptroller’s office also requested board policies regarding parental access and complaints about human sexuality curriculum and the Instructional Materials Review and Approval process.
Lastly, the district was asked to provide aggregate numbers of students enrolled using a Social Security number compared to those using a state-approved alternative identification number.
Perez criticized the scope of the request during the news conference, pointing out that none of the three items represent central administrative spending items.
“Comptroller Huffines told Texans this review was about ‘layers of bureaucracy in central administrative offices,’” Perez said. “Then his office asked El Paso ISD for its library catalogue, its policies on parents’ complaints about sex education and a count of children by the kind of ID number they enrolled with. No. 1 of those is a line in a central-office budget; this isn’t an audit of administrative spending, it’s a fishing expedition.”
State Rep. Perez also said:
“Texas Education Agency rules define a student ID as either a Social Security number or a state-approved alternative identification number assigned by the district when a family does not provide a Social Security number. An alternative ID number does not indicate immigration status. Under the federal Privacy Act of 1974, state and local agencies cannot deny rights or benefits when individuals decline to provide a Social Security number. Furthermore, the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Plyler v. Doe established that every child in Texas has the right to attend public school regardless of immigration status.”
Community leaders at the news conference also questioned the legal basis and intent of requesting student identification data.
Dr. Desiree Serna, representing Texas LULAC, spoke alongside Raul Lerma, president of the Austin High School Alumni Association representing the Save Our Schools Coalition and Carlos Aguilar III, LULAC District IV director.
“We are not here to obstruct legitimate financial oversight,” Serna said. “We are here to demand that it be conducted lawfully, transparently and without compromising the rights of children and families.”
State Rep. Perez also said Comptroller Huffines has previously pursued legislation regarding noncitizen student counts. As a state senator in 2017, Huffines authored Senate Bill 765 to require the certification of costs associated with educating undocumented students, though the bill died in committee. In 2023, the Huffines Liberty Foundation recommended that Texas districts report all noncitizen students and a 2025 House bill proposing student citizenship reporting failed to receive a hearing.
He argued the Comptroller’s focus on student identification numbers aligned with past policy efforts.
“A Social Security number isn’t required to go to school in Texas and an alternative ID number tells you nothing about a child’s immigration status,” State Rep. Perez said. “So what does a review of central-office spending do with a count of El Paso children who enrolled without using one? Comptroller Huffines’ foundation called for districts to count noncitizen students. Now his office is asking districts to count students by ID type; he owes El Paso families a straight answer about why.”
EPISD currently maintains an A rating for financial management from TEA and allocates 4.2% of its spending to administration, below the state agency’s 4.5% standard for districts of its size. According to TEA metrics, 79 eligible large school districts in Texas allocate a larger percentage of funds to central administration than EPISD.
“Using publicly available Texas Education Agency data, it showed the district spends less on administration than the State’s own benchmark, holds an A from TEA for financial management, and was named while 79 eligible districts that spend more were passed over. The letter asked eight questions, with written answers due in 14 days. That deadline passed October 26 without a substantive response,” State Rep. Perez said in a news release.
Perez filed a public records request under Government Code Section 552.008 seeking all requests the Comptroller’s office has made to school districts regarding student or family information, along with the legal authority for those requests and whether data has been shared with other state or federal agencies, requesting records by Nov. 4.
“Comptroller Huffines promised to conduct this review ‘professionally and transparently,’” State Rep. Perez said. “El Paso families had to learn what his office asked for through a records request. Families in Austin, Prosper and Barbers Hill have the same right to know what was asked of their districts and why.”
ABC-7 reached out to EPISD’s board of trustees for comment; board president Leah Hanany sent us the following written statement:
“During this review, the Comptroller’s Office has lauded EPISD’s progress toward financial sustainability, as well as the transparency and cooperation demonstrated by the district. These improvements reflect work that began well before the review was announced and our continued commitment to restoring public trust.
Regarding student identification, I personally registered my own children using state-issued alternative identification numbers because of my concerns about privacy and protecting their personal information in an increasingly digital world. Not sharing your child’s social security number is an option the state provides to parents who wish to exercise greater discretion over how their children’s personal information is shared.
With the review nearing completion, I look forward to district leadership returning its full attention to the work our community expects of us: educating children and improving student outcomes. We have made tremendous progress during a difficult period, and our students deserve our undivided attention as we continue moving the district forward.”
EPISD will hold a news conference tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.; ABC-7 will be there and will bring updates in our afternoon newscasts.
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