1 

UNITED STATED DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 

EL PASO DIVISION 

Familias Unidas Por La Educación, 

 Plaintiff, 

 v. 

El Paso Independent School District; and 

Robert Geske, in his official capacity as 

President of the Board of Trustees of the El 

Paso Independent School District; 

 Defendants. 

Case No. 3:20-cv-170 

COMPLAINT SEEKING INJUNCTIVE RELIEF 

For more than a century, the El Paso Independent School District (“EPISD”) has engaged 

in systemic discrimination against poor, Hispanic, and Mexican-American students. Freed from 

the restraints of judicial oversight in 2017, EPISD immediately returned to its discriminatory roots: 

within months of the termination of a court order compelling desegregation, EPISD closed three 

elementary schools in or near the Chamizal neighborhood while leaving untouched schools in 

whiter neighborhoods. Further exacerbating the harm caused by these school closings, EPISD 

directed no bond monies for improving facilities in this same neighborhood, but instead dedicated 

those funds to schools in other, whiter neighborhoods. 

Plaintiff asks this Court to once again hold EPISD accountable for its discriminatory 

practices. Because recent acts by EPISD deny equal protection to all school children in El Paso, 

Plaintiff seeks the judicial intervention necessary to ensure equal access to safe, clean and 

accessible schools in Chamizal. 

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Familias Unidas Por La Educación (“Familias Unidas”) is a non-profit 

membership organization comprised primarily of parents of children whose elementary schools 

were closed by the El Paso Independent School District (“EPISD” or the “District”). To justify 

closing schools in poorer Hispanic neighborhoods—Beall, Burleson, and Alta Vista Elementary 

Schools—and retain underutilized facilities in wealthier white neighborhoods, EPISD rejected 

the recommendation of its own engineering firm and substituted a patently arbitrary formula to 

manipulate utilization rates. During the closure decision and the closure process, EPISD turned a 

deaf ear to the views of Spanish-speaking parents. After the closures, EPISD failed to remediate 

the schools to accommodate the increased enrollment from Beall, Burleson, and Alta Vista. The 

consequence has been to concentrate poorer Hispanic children in schools that are among the 

oldest, most poorly maintained, and most dangerous schools in EPISD. Familias Unidas seeks 

declaratory and injunctive relief to end EPISD’s unlawful treatment of Hispanic and MexicanAmerican students and families in the Chamizal neighborhoods. Familias Unidas seeks to ensure 

that students in the Chamizal have the equal opportunity to obtain an education without regard to 

their race or national origin. 

JURISDICTION AND VENUE 

This Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal 

question jurisdiction) and 28 U.S.C. § 1343(a)(3) (civil rights jurisdiction) because this action 

arises under the laws of the United States, including 42 U.S.C. § 1983. 

Venue is proper in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391 because Defendants 

are located in this district and the events giving rise Plaintiff’s claims occurred within this 

district. 

An actual controversy between the Plaintiff and Defendants renders declaratory 

judgment appropriate under 28 U.S.C. § 2201. 

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PARTIES 

Plaintiff Familias Unidas Por La Educación is a not-for-profit membership 

organization located in El Paso, Texas. Familias Unidas began work in 2016 through a number 

of predecessor organizations that were consolidated in 2020. Familias Unidas consists primarily 

of, and is governed by, parents, guardians, and caregivers of children who previously attended 

Beall and Burleson elementary schools. Familias Unidas’s mission is to improve educational 

opportunities for children who expect to attend Bowie and Jefferson High Schools. 

The claims asserted in this lawsuit are germane to the purposes for which 

Familias Unidas exists. As set forth in its articles of incorporation, Familias Unidas exists “To 

improve the educational outcomes for children in the Chamizal area of El Paso, Texas, especially 

children who are in the feeder patterns of Bowie and Jefferson High Schools.” EPISD’s failure 

to comply with applicable federal laws that aim to ensure an adequate education for all students, 

regardless of race or national origin, has interfered with Plaintiff’s purpose and mission. 

Through this lawsuit, Familias Unidas aims to reverse the harms caused by EPISD, and in doing 

so improve education for its members’ children. 

Familias Unidas has standing in that (i) its members would have standing to 

challenge the violations alleged in this complaint, (ii) Familias Unidas seeks to protect interests 

germane to its purpose, and (iii) litigation of the violations alleged in this complaint does not 

require the participation of individual members in the lawsuit. See Ass’n of Am. Physicians & 

Surgeons, Inc. v. Texas Med. Bd., 627 F.3d 547, 550–51 (5th Cir. 2010). 

Defendant EPISD is a public school district and a local educational agency 

headquartered and operating in El Paso, Texas. Within its boundaries, EPISD has primary 

responsibility for implementing Texas’s system of public education and promoting student 

performance in accord with the Texas Education Code. 

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EPISD is governed by a board of trustees (the “Board”), which is responsible for 

overseeing EPISD’s management, including establishing general policies governing the 

operation of schools in the District. The Board has seven seats, each representing a separate 

geographic district, and is legally and solely responsible for deciding whether to continue or 

cease to operate schools within the District. 

EPISD may be served through its Superintendent, Juan E. Cabrera. See

Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(J)(2)(A) (unit of local government may be served through its chief executive 

officer); Texas Education Code § 11.201(a) (superintendent is chief executive officer of the 

school district). 

Defendant Robert Geske is President of the EPISD Board of Trustees. As 

president, Mr. Geske has the authority and responsibility to enforce parliamentary rules at Board 

meetings, coordinate with the Superintendent concerning issues that may need to come before 

the Board for action, develop agendas for Board meetings, and give recognition to Board 

members to comment on a topic being discussed. Familias Unidas brings this suit against Robert 

Geske in his official capacity as President of the EPISD Board of Trustees. 

FACTS 

I. EPISD Has Repeatedly and Consistently Discriminated Along Racial and Ethnic 

Lines and Against the Chamizal Neighborhood. 

Since it was first created in 1883, EPISD has demonstrated a repeated and 

consistent history of purposeful discrimination against minority students and families with 

disregard for state and federal law. These violations have required the intervention of this Court, 

the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and various federal and state agencies 

including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Education, the 

United States Department of Justice, and the Texas Education Agency. 

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In the 2018 to 2019 school year, there were 55 elementary schools in EPISD.1 

EPISD is a majority-minority district. In the 2018 to 2019 school year, about 

84% of EPISD students were Hispanic and about 9% of students were white. 

The Chamizal neighborhood in El Paso is approximately bounded to the north by 

I-10, the east by Gateway South Boulevard, the south by Paisano Drive and Cesar Chavez 

Memorial Highway, and the west by Laurel Street and the railroad tracks. 

1

 EPISD also had one combined elementary and middle school, MacArthur Intermediate 

School, as well as an alternative disciplinary education program for elementary school 

students, the About Face Program. 

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The Chamizal has a long and storied history. The neighborhood is situated along 

the border of the United States and Mexico. 

Since it was established, the Chamizal has been a working-class, immigrant, 

Mexican-American neighborhood that has been subject to repeated discrimination. 

The Chamizal neighborhood is approximately comprised of census tracts 28 and 

29. 

The United States and Mexico disputed the ownership of parts of the Chamizal 

until 1964. 

The dispute, and associated lack of law enforcement authority, made the area a 

haven for slumlords who sought to obtain the most rent from the most vulnerable populations 

with the least government oversight, as well as business owners looking to install hazards like 

slaughterhouses and garbage dumps that other neighborhoods had the power to prevent. 

In 1964, the United States and Mexico ratified a treaty resolving the dispute. The 

controversial treaty split the disputed land between the United States and Mexico, separating 

people from friends and family along newly declared national boundaries. 

El Paso is one of the most impoverished cities in the United States, and the 

Chamizal neighborhood is one of the poorest, most Hispanic, and most Mexican-American 

neighborhoods in El Paso.2 

Specifically, in the Chamizal neighborhood, more than 50% of the population 

falls below the poverty level and more than 98% of the population is Hispanic. By contrast, 

2

 Demographic information is based upon the 2018 American Community Survey 5-Year 

Estimates, available at https://data.census.gov, unless otherwise noted. Information for 

the Chamizal neighborhood is based upon census tracts 28 and 29. 

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when taken as a whole, 20% of the population of El Paso falls below the poverty level and 81% 

of the population is Hispanic. 

Nearly all Hispanic individuals residing in El Paso and the Chamizal are of 

Mexican descent.3

Beall Elementary School is a former EPISD elementary school located in the 

Chamizal. The Board voted to close Beall in January 2019, and Beall was closed beginning with 

the 2019 to 2020 school year. 

Burleson Elementary School is a former EPISD elementary school located near 

the Chamizal. The Board voted to close Burleson in January 2019, and Burleson was closed 

beginning with the 2019 to 2020 school year. 

Alta Vista Elementary School is a former EPISD elementary school located near 

the Chamizal. The Board voted to close Alta Vista in January 2019, and Alta Vista was closed 

beginning with the 2019 to 2020 school year. 

Zavala Elementary School is an elementary school in EPISD. 

Zavala Elementary School is located in the Chamizal. 

In connection with the closure of Beall and Burleson, the Board adjusted the 

Zavala attendance zones to include students who were in the Burleson attendance zone. 

Douglass Elementary School is an EPISD elementary school located in the 

Chamizal. 

In connection with the closure of Beall and Burleson, the Board adjusted the 

Douglass attendance zones to include students who previously attended Beall and some students 

who previously attended Zavala. 

3

 2010 Decennial Census, available at https://bit.ly/2wQTpCq. 

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The attendance zones for Beall, Burleson, Douglass, and Zavala (together, the 

“Chamizal Schools”) overlap with United States Census Bureau Tracts 28, 29, and 30 (the 

“School Zones”). These communities are demographically and culturally distinct from El Paso 

as a whole. 

Within the School Zones, about 94% of households speak Spanish at home and 

about 40% of residents were not born in the United States—both rates that far exceed EPISD’s 

rates of 61% and 24%, respectively.

EPISD has a particularly egregious history of purposeful discrimination against 

Hispanic and Mexican-American students in the Chamizal neighborhood of El Paso. 

The schools in the present-day Chamizal area were originally administered 

explicitly as segregated Mexican schools. 

A 1922 survey of El Paso Schools found “two cities existing side by side, with 

only the railroad tracks between, and yet varying greatly in their needs, their taxable values and 

their racial traits and ideas.”4 The surveyor concluded that “[t]his distinction must be borne in 

mind by anyone who would really understand the school problem of El Paso.”5

The Chamizal Schools are, on average, much more Hispanic and MexicanAmerican and have significantly more limited-English proficient students than EPISD’s 

elementary schools as a whole. 

More than 99% of all students in the Chamizal Schools are Hispanic. 

The four Chamizal Schools and Alta Vista include (i) the two schools with the 

greatest percentage of Hispanic students in EPISD, (ii) four of the eight EPISD schools with the 

4

 Paul W. Horn, Survey of the City Schools of El Paso, Texas 8 (1922). 

5

 Id.

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greatest percentage of English Language Learners, (iii) the two EPISD schools with the greatest 

percentage of Economically Disadvantaged students, and (iv) excluding alternative (disciplinary) 

education programs, four of the six EPISD schools with the greatest percentage of students 

identified as at-risk of dropping out of school.6

Bowie High School and Thomas Jefferson High School are in the Chamizal 

Schools’ feeder patterns and are located in or near the Chamizal. 

A. The Chamizal Schools Were Subject to This Court’s Desegregation Order in 

Alvarado v. EPISD. 

In 1970, Mexican-American parents filed a lawsuit on behalf of themselves and 

their children against EPISD, alleging racial and ethnic discrimination through the operation of a 

dual segregated school system. 

Following a lengthy trial on the merits, this Court found that plaintiffs had 

demonstrated “a past or historical segregative design on the part of [EPISD] in virtually all areas 

and aspects of the School System” as well as “a very limited present and continuing” dual school 

system. 

Specifically, this Court found, among other things, that the establishment of 

Bowie High School intentionally fostered ethnic isolation of Mexican-Americans and its faculty 

composition fell above the Singleton tolerance range.7 

6

 All demographic information of students in this complaint is for the 2018-2019 academic 

year, unless otherwise noted. 

7

 The Singleton Tolerance Range, or Singleton Variation, refers to the degree to which a 

school district can deviate from Singleton’s requirement that school districts assign 

school staff such that the racial composition of staff at each school is “substantially the 

same” as in the entire school system. Singleton v. Jackson Mun. Separate Sch. Dist., 419 

F.2d 1211, 1222 (5th Cir.), judgment vacated in part on other grounds Carter v. W. 

Feliciana Par. Sch. Bd., 396 U.S. 226 (1969), judgment rev’d on other grounds sub nom. 

Carter v. W. Feliciana Par. Sch. Bd., 396 U.S. 290 (1970). 

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This Court further found that EPISD had a history of maintaining inferior 

facilities for Mexican-American students by, among other things: (i) limiting facilities funding, 

(ii) poor building maintenance, (iii) overcrowding, (iv) maintaining inadequate playground and 

sports facilities, and (v) poor lighting conditions. 

This Court also found that the disparate allocation of air conditioning to white and 

Mexican-American schools indicated discriminatory intent by EPISD. 

This Court’s order in Alvarado documented some of the history of Chamizal 

Schools. For example, EPISD’s history of discrimination against the Chamizal Schools extends 

far back to the 1800s, with the establishment of Douglass as EPISD’s first “colored” school. 

This Court further observed that in 1922 Beall was one of the elementary schools 

“south of the tracks,” in the “Mexican District,” and, in 1934, Beall, Burleson, and Zavala were 

among eight Bowie feeder schools, all of which were predominantly Mexican-American. 

In Alvarado, to ensure that “all students within [EPISD] are provided with equal 

educational opportunities,” this Court ordered that EPISD (i) provide transportation between 

certain areas and schools; (ii) redraw attendance zones; (iii) increase the number of airconditioned predominantly Mexican-American schools; (iv) hire staff to attain the Singleton 

standards; (v) assign Mexican-American teachers to predominantly Anglo-American schools, 

and Anglo-American teachers to predominately Mexican-American schools sufficiently to meet 

the Singleton standards; and (vi) promote qualified minority personnel. 

EPISD appealed, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 

affirmed this Court’s judgment in Alvarado. 

In June 2017, this Court vacated the desegregation order in Alvarado v. EPISD. 

EPISD immediately began working to undo the positive effects of this Court’s order by closing 

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schools and changing attendance zones in ways that would have been prohibited by this Court’s 

order. 

Specifically, in connection with the 2018 closure of Burnet Elementary School, 

EPISD noted in a Frequently Asked Questions document that Burnet would have been closed as 

part of the 2016 Bond Project, except that “[t]he attendance zone for Burnet Elementary School 

could not be changed at that time due to the 1976 Alvarado v. EPISD case. The Alvarado case 

required the current Bliss and Travis Elementary Schools attendance zones. It also required the 

current attendance zones for Burnet, Logan, and Powell Elementary Schools. The orders were 

vacated on June 8, 2017.” 

EPISD’s consistent and repeated history and practice of discrimination against 

minority students in the Chamizal area continues to occur and influences EPISD’s policies, 

practices, decisions, and actions today. 

B. EPISD’s Recent Cheating Scheme and Other Discriminatory Activities 

Deliberately Targeted the Chamizal Schools and Continue a History of 

Mismanagement. 

Bowie High School was and is one of the most heavily minority high schools in 

the District, with more than 99% Hispanic students. 

Discrimination against Bowie students is necessarily also discrimination against 

the Chamizal families, including former Beall and Burleson students. Two of the Chamizal 

Schools are in the Bowie feeder pattern, and Bowie High School serves students who live in the 

Chamizal. 

In 2012, the Texas Education Agency appointed a board of managers to oversee 

EPISD for up to two years. 

The appointment stemmed from a scandal in which EPISD purposefully forced 

students out of Bowie High School and other schools in an effort to increase district funding 

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through improving scores on standardized tests. These efforts were frequently targeted at 

Mexican-American students, incorrectly identifying students who withdrew or never enrolled in 

EPISD schools as having “returned to home country.” 

The scandal involved associate superintendent James Anderson, who instructed 

school principals to discourage students from re-enrolling in the school, including incorrectly 

telling students that they were too old to enroll and telling adult students that they need a parent 

to enroll, causing many students to never return to school. 

Students who were pushed out using these tactics were incorrectly marked in 

EPISD’s records as “returned to home country” when they in fact still lived in the United States. 

Students were also inappropriately retained in lower grades or advanced to higher 

grades in order to avoid testing. 

The scandal particularly impacted Bowie High School, which is in the feeder 

pattern for two Chamizal Schools. 

In 2010, State Senator Eliot Shapleigh raised concerns related to the scandal, 

prompting an FBI investigation of EPISD. This FBI investigation resulted in the arrest of the 

Superintendent of EPISD on fraud charges to which the Superintendent pleaded guilty. See USA 

v. Garcia, 3:11-cr-01830 (W.D. Tex. 2011), ECF No. 3. 

The TEA appointed a board of managers to govern EPISD for up to two years. 

EPISD’s Board of Trustees challenged the TEA’s decision with the state’s Commissioner of 

Education, but the Commissioner upheld the TEA’s decision. 

The board of managers was formally installed in May 2013. 

In June 2013, the Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department 

of Education (“DOE”) found that EPISD’s internal controls—the District’s policies and 

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procedures that should provide reasonable assurance of compliance—were “insufficient to 

provide reasonable assurance of compliance with laws and regulations” and that the data 

submitted to the DOE from Bowie High School was unreliable. 

Among other problems, DOE found that EPISD leadership failed to candidly 

acknowledge “that it had found violations of El Paso policies, potential falsifications of 

government documents, and improper promotion and retention of students in an effort to avoid 

possible Federal education accountability sanctions, among other issues.” 

In 2015, following the expiration of its complete two-year term, TEA dissolved 

the board of managers, and the Board of Trustees resumed its management of EPISD, including 

allocation of funding and management of schools. 

II. EPISD Targeted its Most Hispanic and Mexican-American Schools for 

Consolidation. 

A. The 2016 Bond Process 

While the TEA-appointed board of managers was still in place, EPISD 

commissioned Jacobs Project Management Co. (“Jacobs”), an engineering and construction firm, 

to conduct a comprehensive facilities condition assessment of every campus facility in EPISD. 

Jacobs applied its expertise and experience to assess school facilities, capacity, 

condition, 5-year life cycle, enrollment projections, stakeholders, and recommended 

development. This assessment is published as EPISD’s March 2015 “State of School Facilities” 

report (the “Jacobs Report”). 

 Jacobs developed its report in conjunction with consultants from ECM 

International, DeJong-Richter, and Dr. William Wachtel. 

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The El Paso Times described the Jacobs Report as “long-overdue” and “a good 

tool for the incoming elected board to use in determining how to operate the district more 

efficiently.” 

On or about January 21, 2015, Jacobs presented a Facilities Master Plan to the 

TEA-approved board of managers (the “Jacobs Plan”). This Plan was based on the research that 

would subsequently be published as the Jacobs Report. 

The Jacobs Plan recommended that sixteen schools be rebuilt, including Burleson 

and Douglass, that three schools receive major renovations, and that 58 schools receive 

“Prioritized Renovations.” 

The Jacobs Plan advised EPISD to (i) close or repurpose twelve elementary 

schools; (ii) build a new campus on the property where Douglass currently exists and send Beall 

students to the newly built school; and (iii) build a new campus on the Burleson property and 

send Zavala students to the newly built school. 

In or about 2016, EPISD created a Facilities Advisory Committee (“FAC”) 

comprised of community members. The FAC originally included Hilda Villegas and Guillermo 

Glen, who are now respectively President and a member of Familias Unidas. Villegas and Glen 

eventually resigned from their positions on the FAC in protest over EPISD’s discriminatory 

actions towards the Chamizal Schools. 

Familias Unidas’ community involvement on the issue of school closures began 

in 2016 with the consistent voicing of concerns about the environmental hazards at both 

Douglass and Zavala. Familias Unidas and its predecessor organizations made numerous 

attempts to inform EPISD about the environmental problems in the Chamizal Schools. 

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In response to these concerns, EPISD’s FAC facilitator sent a letter to FAC 

members on or about July 14, 2016 stating that in response to the concerns, EPISD “has 

determined to undertake a study to evaluate the environmental safety of our precious children at 

Beall, Zavala and Douglass and take any steps necessary to ensure those children learn and grow 

in a safe environment.” 

On information and belief, EPISD has never undertaken a comprehensive study to 

evaluate environmental hazards at Beall, Zavala, and Douglass.

In August 2016, the FAC submitted a $668 million bond proposal—the largest 

ever in El Paso County—which was approved by the Board and voters (the “Bond Project”). 

The Bond Project that was approved by the FAC, the Board, and EPISD voters 

did not involve the closure or consolidation of any of the Chamizal Schools, but also did not 

require funding to be allocated for construction at the Chamizal Schools. 

The Bond Project affected 28 EPISD schools (the “Bond Schools”) and included 

eight potential or final consolidation projects affecting up to eighteen schools,8 but did not 

mention any consolidation or closure of any of the Chamizal Schools. 

The Bond Project included funding for construction and improvements associated 

with each potential consolidation, as well as funding for ten schools without any associated 

consolidations.9

8

 The project included the potential closure or consolidation of Bond, Bonham, Bradley, 

Clardy, Collins, Crosby, Dowell, Fannin, Hughey, Johnson, Roberts, and Schuster 

elementary schools; and Henderson, Lincoln, MacArthur, Morehead, Ross, and Terrace 

middle schools. 

9

 The project included funding for construction and improvements for Andress, Austin, 

Burges, Coronado, El Paso, Irvin, and Jefferson high schools; Bassett Middle School; 

Crockett Elementary School; and Silva Magnet School. 

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Despite the recommendations in the Jacobs Plan that the Chamizal Schools 

receive substantial funding and renovations, the Bond Project did not require any funding to be 

allocated to the Chamizal Schools. 

Had EPISD implemented the Jacobs Plan, the Chamizal Schools would have been 

slated for closure through the Bond Project and would have received substantial funding for 

construction. 

According to the Jacobs Report, EPISD’s elementary schools were, on average, at 

about 87% capacity, and the Chamizal Schools were, on average at about 84% of capacity 

utilization. 

B. Familias Unidas’ Community Involvement on Environmental Issues 

Environmental problems in the Chamizal have resulted in harms to students who 

have been forced to attend Douglass and Zavala as a result of school closures. 

Familias Unidas’ predecessor organizations have been requesting EPISD to assess 

and address environmental problems in local schools since their formation in 2016. 

In response to environmental concerns, in or about October 2016, Dr. William 

Hargrove, the Director for the Center for Environmental Resource Management at the University 

of Texas El Paso (“UTEP”), performed a study of soil from playgrounds of Douglass, Beall, and 

Zavala as well as several nearby locations. 

The UTEP study found “moderate to high” lead levels in the soil at the Douglass 

and Zavala playgrounds and high levels of copper in soil near Douglass. 

Both Dr. Hargrove and Dr. Wen-Whai Li, a Professor of Civil Engineering at 

UTEP who specializes in, among other areas, air pollution monitoring and health risk 

assessments, contacted EPISD on multiple occasions from February 2017 to February 2018 to 

discuss air quality monitoring at Beall, Douglass, and Zavala as well as monitoring for a 

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proposed bus hub at Bowie High School. EPISD declined to commit to an air quality study of 

the Chamizal Schools at that time. 

In conjunction with EPISD’s attempts to close Chamizal Schools, EPISD decided 

to move their Central Bus and Operations Hub to the Bowie High School campus. This move 

will further decrease air quality in the Chamizal. On or about April 3, 2018, one of Plaintiff’s 

predecessor organizations submitted a complaint under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

discussing the discriminatory impacts that relocating this Bus Hub would have on Hispanic 

students at Bowie High School as well as on the greater Chamizal community. 

C. The Announcement of Further School Closures 

In May 2018 then-Board President Trent Hatch announced that the District 

intended to close additional schools. Hatch explained that schools with 65% or lower capacity 

utilization were candidates for closure. 

EPISD claimed that the additional closures were needed to balance the District’s 

budget. 

There was no reasonable basis for EPISD to close further schools. Rather, the 

closure of schools in 2019 was a response to a “manufactured crisis,” as affirmed by thenTrustee Susie Byrd. 

EPISD’s Board treated the 2019 closures very differently from the Bond Project, 

as explained by the-Trustee Susie Byrd. During the 2019 closures, EPISD was “less transparent, 

less willing to engage the public in confronting our challenges and less willing to hold ourselves 

and administration accountable,” as affirmed by then-trustee Susie Byrd. 

On or about June 11, 2018, Beall parents learned from a leaked email obtained by 

the El Paso Times that EPISD was again targeting their children’s schools for closure. 

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After the El Paso Times reported on the possible closures, the District scheduled 

two public meetings on June 18 and 19, 2018, to permit public comment on the closures. The 

District scheduled a vote for three days later, June 21, 2018. 

All of El Paso’s six state legislators wrote to the Board with “serious concerns” 

about the proposed closures, questioning the existence of a budget deficit and the need to close 

the schools, and described the proposal as a “regress[ion]” from the Bond Project. 

On or about June 12, 2018, Dr. Debra Niemeier, an air quality expert from the 

University of California at Davis, submitted a letter detailing air quality concerns at each of the 

Chamizal Schools and the effects of these air quality concerns on children. This letter 

particularly highlighted concerns regarding the truck traffic adjacent to Zavala, and concluded 

that “based on the current science, it is irresponsible to locate children in schools close to heavily 

traveled roads and certain types of industrial concerns without 1) assessing the potential air 

quality effects, and 2) mitigating current and new site location air quality impacts.” 

On or about June 19, 2018, one of Plaintiff’s predecessor organizations submitted 

a complaint through EPISD’s internal grievance procedures, complaining of violations of Title 

VI, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act, including environmental 

risks to children present at both Douglass and Zavala Elementary Schools. 

The Board was scheduled to vote on the closures on June 21, 2018. At the Board 

meeting, then-President Hatch announced that the vote would no longer take place at that 

meeting and that the Board would not accept any public comments on the subject. According to 

Hatch, the Board recognized that more planning and community engagement were necessary 

before closing schools and said EPISD’s “focus and priority is and always will be the children of 

El Paso.” 

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The District dismissed the June 19 complaint following an appeal to the 

superintendent, stating that it was “moot due to the [Board] not taking action on closure of any 

schools” at the time. 

D. Recalculating Capacity to Target Hispanic and Mexican-American Schools 

Unsatisfied with the results of the Bond Project, which would leave open the 

heavily-minority schools that EPISD wanted to close, EPISD ignored the expertise of the 

engineering firm, whose report had been commissioned by the now-dissolved Board of 

Managers, and decided to prepare its own report (the “EPISD Report”). 

The EPISD Report purportedly identified schools operating below capacity so that 

those schools could be slated for consolidation or closure. 

To calculate capacity, the Jacobs Report had employed a “functional capacity” 

approach. Utilizing its extensive expertise as an engineering firm to create the report, Jacobs 

calculated the capacity of each school in a way that accounted not just for number of classrooms, 

but also for a variety of other factors including classroom size and classroom purpose. 

Unlike the Jacobs Report, which relied upon the engineering firm’s extensive 

knowledge of the industry to calculate capacity, the EPISD Report simply multiplied the number 

of classrooms by the arbitrary number of seventeen students per classroom. 

In the EPISD Report, for purposes of determining supposed capacity, a classroom 

was treated the same regardless of size, whether the classroom was for general education or 

special education or students with severe disabilities, and whether the classroom was for native 

English speakers or English-language learners. All classrooms were considered to be able to 

accommodate seventeen students, no more and no less, despite variation in classroom physical 

size, intended classroom purpose, needs of the students served, and other classroom needs. 

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In preparing the EPISD Report, EPISD disregarded the calculation of its expert, 

as set forth in the Jacobs Report, and applied an arbitrary, capricious, rudimentary, insufficient, 

and inaccurate calculation that served no purpose other than to justify the closure of the schools 

EPISD wanted to close. 

According to the EPISD Report, 22 out 55 EPISD elementary schools were below 

65% capacity during the 2018 through 2019 school year, placing 40% of EPISD elementary 

schools below the closure threshold. This large number of elementary schools below the 65% 

threshold offered EPISD a facial justification for choosing among a large number of EPISD 

schools for closure. 

According to the EPISD Report, twenty-two schools, including Beall, Burleson, 

Douglass, Zavala, and Alta Vista were below 65% capacity during the 2018 to 2019 school year. 

Other than those five schools, the following seventeen schools were below 65% capacity: Aoy, 

Barron, Bliss, Cooley, Crockett, Crosby, Moye, Hughey, Johnson, Lamar, Newman, Roberts, 

Rusk, Schuster, Travis, Whitaker, and White elementary schools (the “Low Capacity Schools”). 

Burleson Elementary School—one of the three Closed Schools—was below 65% 

capacity utilization according to EPISD’s report, but would have been above 65% capacity 

utilization during the 2018 to 2019 school year—and therefore not eligible for closure—had 

EPISD utilized the capacity methodology applied in the Jacobs Report. In sharp contrast, 

according to the EPISD Report, Burleson was at just 49% capacity utilization. 

E. Defendants’ Consideration of the Discriminatory Closures 

On December 6, 2018, EPISD staff presented the EPISD Report to the Board. 

EPISD staff recommended the closure of Burleson, Beall, Alta Vista, and Schuster elementary 

schools. 

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According to district policy, members of the public providing public comments 

are allotted three minutes to speak. Further, the Board Operating Procedures Handbook, which 

elaborates policies pertaining to the Board, provides that if “additional time [is] needed for all 

speakers to address the Board, the Board may designate a future meeting.” However, instead of 

giving everyone the opportunity to address the Board on the important issue of school closures, 

the Board reduced the speaking allotment to just 1.5 minutes per person. 

At the December 6, 2018 Board meeting, several parents of students at Beall 

Elementary School spoke, but not one Burleson parent spoke because parents at Burleson were 

still largely or entirely unaware of the closure proposals. 

EPISD subsequently scheduled community meetings for the purpose of sharing 

information with the community concerning the closures. EPISD repeatedly provided the public 

with incorrect information concerning the meeting times and rescheduled the meetings, creating 

confusion and scheduling difficulties for parents and severely limiting the ability of the 

interested public to comment on the closures. 

At the community meetings, parents from Alta Vista, Beall, and Burleson 

elementary schools criticized EPISD for failing to listen to their concerns; expressed frustration 

over the lack of community involvement in the decision-making process (unlike the Bond 

Project, in which EPISD convened a committee of community members to assist in the decisionmaking process); expressed concerns about student safety and inadequate transportation to 

Zavala, Douglass, and Coldwell; and underscored the importance of the schools to the local 

communities. 

Under the proposed plan to close Burleson that was presented to the Board, the 

newly-drawn attendance zones would require students to cross highway 54 to travel to Zavala 

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Elementary School. Highway 54 lies between Burleson and Zavala and is a major artery for 

travel and a hazardous route for students to cross to get to school. 

At the Burleson parent meeting, Trustee Velarde admitted that he was initially 

shocked by the route that kids would have to walk to get to school, but reconsidered when he 

realized that some students who attend the Chamizal Schools already had to make this dangerous 

walk. 

In contrast, EPISD staff at the Alta Vista meeting highlighted that the Alta Vista 

consolidation would be accompanied by rezoning certain schools in that area so that no child 

would need to cross Highway 54.

EPISD’s approach to Highway 54 for the Chamizal Schools stands in stark 

contrast to EPISD’s general treatment of schools with a greater percentage of white students. 

For example, EPISD eliminated consideration of Rivera Elementary School for 

closure. According to EPISD, Rivera was eliminated as a closure candidate because if Rivera 

were closed, it would be impossible to adjust attendance zones to account for major roadways. 

No roads near Rivera carry traffic that is comparable to Highway 54.

Rivera has a significantly lower percentage of Hispanic students than Beall, 

Burleson, and Alta Vista. 

In fact, EPISD’s approach to Highway 54 for Zavala and Douglass differs 

dramatically from its approach for every other school near the Mexican border: within 4 miles of 

the border, EPISD’s attendance zones almost perfectly follow Highway 54, ensuring that no 

student will need to cross the major throughway. However, this perfect alignment ends at the 

Chamizal Schools, the schools nearest to the border. For the Chamizal Schools, Highways 54, 

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110, and 62 all cut right through the heart of its current attendance zones, forcing students to 

cross dangerous highways.

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This treatment of Highway 54, like EPISD’s treatment of closures, again falls 

along racial lines. 

The schools within four miles of the Mexican border with attendance zones that 

cleanly trace Highway 54 such that students do not need to cross the highway are Coldwell, 

Hillside, Crockett, Rusk, Travis, and Bliss elementary schools. 

Meanwhile, Highways 62, 110, and 54 cut straight through the heart of the Zavala 

and Douglass attendance zones. In fact, the vast majority of the Zavala attendance zone lies on 

the other side of Highway 54 from Zavala. Before Burleson was closed, Zavala and Douglass 

each lay on opposite sides of Highway 54, reducing the need for students to cross the major 

highway.

Zavala and Douglass both have nearly 100% Hispanic students. Meanwhile, 

Coldwell, Hillside, Crockett, Rusk, Travis, and Bliss all have a lower percent of Hispanic 

students than Zavala and Douglass, with, on average, about 86% Hispanic students, and about 37 

times the rate of white students as Zavala and Douglass.

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

7.00%

8.00%

Coldwell, Hillside, Crockett, Rusk, Travis,

Bliss

Zavala, Douglass

Percent of Students Who Are White

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The community meeting with Beall was held entirely in Spanish and included 

comments and questions from Spanish-speaking parents directed to EPISD staff. 

Trustee Geske represented the area encompassing Beall and attended the Beall 

community meeting. However, Trustee Geske does not speak Spanish and was not provided 

with a translator. As a result, Spanish-speaking parents were not able to provide any input to 

their elected representative on the Board at the Beall community meeting. 

EPISD staff ended the Burleson community meeting without giving all parents 

present the opportunity to speak. 

In reality, the community meetings were designed for nothing more than public 

relations. When the Board had originally sought to close Beall for the second time in June 2018, 

teachers at Beall were told to start packing up their classrooms, before the Board meeting that 

had been scheduled to vote on the closure—then scheduled for June 21—had even taken place. 

Indeed, the Board did not have the option of keeping Burleson and Alta Vista open: the Board 

was presented with just two options for closure, and Burleson and Alta Vista were to be closed as 

a part of either plan. 

On information and belief, EPISD took no action in response to comments 

received in December 2018 and January 2019 related to the closures. Many of the concerns 

expressed by parents at those meetings have proven to be correct. 

F. EPISD Approved the Discriminatory Closures of Beall, Burleson, and Alta 

Vista 

On January 22, 2019, counsel for Familias Unidas’s predecessor organization 

submitted a letter to the Board informing them that a vote to close Beall and Burleson would 

likely violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and EPISD’s own policies against discrimination. 

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On January 22, 2019, the Board was representative of only a narrow slice of 

EPISD’s community and did not at all represent the schools whose fate it was deciding. At the 

time of the vote, the Board was comprised of six members: Bob Geske, Al Velarde, Diane Dye, 

Chuck Taylor, Trent Hatch, and Mickey Loweree. 

EPISD Board seats are allocated for election among seven voting districts, each of 

which are comprised of about 7 to 14 schools. 

At the time of the meeting, the seat on the Board which represented Alta Vista 

Elementary School, which the Board was about to vote to close, was vacant. A community 

member requested that the Board postpone its vote on the closure until the Alta Vista seat was 

filled; instead, the Board voted to leave the seat unfilled for months and proceeded to vote to 

close the unrepresented Alta Vista Elementary School. 

On information and belief, at the time of the January 22, 2019 vote, just one out 

of six of the Board members—17% of the Board—was Hispanic, and four—67%—were white, 

in a virtual inversion of EPISD’s student body, which was about 84% Hispanic in the 2018 to 

2019 school year, and just about 9% white. 

At the January 22, 2019 Board meeting, the Board again reduced the time 

allocated for speakers from the three minutes provided by policy, contrary to the Board 

Operating Procedures Handbook which provides that speakers shall receive three minutes, and if 

“additional time [is] needed for all speakers to address the Board, the Board may designate a 

future meeting.” 

At the January 22, 2019 meeting, no translator was provided to assist monolingual 

English Board members understand Spanish comments from the public, or to help monolingual 

Spanish-speakers understand English comments from the public or Board. Without any 

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translation, Spanish-speaking national origin and racial minorities were entirely prohibited from 

commenting on this significant decision or having their comments heard or considered by nonSpanish-speaking Board members. 

At the January 22, 2019 meeting, English-speaking Board members failed to 

listen to or consider the comments of Spanish-speaking parents, despite the fact that the census 

reveals that about 95% of parents in the area of the Chamizal Schools speak Spanish at home. 

This limitation almost exclusively targets Hispanic and Mexican-American families and operates 

as a proxy for race and national origin. 

A substantial portion of public comments at the January 22, 2019 meeting were in 

Spanish. 

On January 22, 2019, the Board voted to close three schools to which the Bond 

Project did not allocate any mandatory funding: Alta Vista, Beall, and Burleson elementary 

schools.10

Despite the Jacobs Plan’s recommendation that Beall not be closed until Douglass 

was rebuilt and that Zavala close only after Burleson was rebuilt, the January 2019 closures were 

decided without any plan for or commitment to construction of new school facilities.

10 EPISD also voted to close Schuster Elementary School at the January 22, 2019 meeting. 

However, Schuster was already slated for consolidation, construction, and improvements 

as part of the Bond Project, and once the $28.3 million construction project is complete, 

Schuster students will attend the newly-constructed Arcadio Duran Elementary School. 

One year prior, on January 16, 2018, the Board voted to close Burnet Elementary School. 

However, Burnet would have been closed as part of the Bond Project had EPISD not 

been prohibited from doing so by this Court’s order in Alvarado v. EPISD; indeed, 

EPISD did not even include Burnet in its capacity calculation for purposes of determining 

which schools to close. 

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G. EPISD Closed its Most Hispanic and Mexican-American Schools 

The EPISD Report and EPISD’s purported 65% capacity utilization threshold for 

closing schools gave EPISD flexibility to choose among a large number of schools to close. 

However, among the schools that met EPISD’s criteria for closure, the three schools EPISD 

targeted for closure were among the most Hispanic and Mexican-American elementary schools 

in the District. 

The Closed Schools on average had 99% Hispanic students and served among the 

highest concentrations of Hispanic children in EPISD. Meanwhile, the Low Capacity Schools on 

average had about eighteen times the rate of white students as the Closed Schools, and had only 

about 85% Hispanic students. 

The Closed Schools are similarly-situated to the Low Capacity Schools. Both the 

Jacobs Report and EPISD Report demonstrate that, on average, the Low Capacity Schools used 

approximately the same amount of their capacity as the Closed Schools. 

One of EPISD’s purported rationales for closing schools was to reduce 

expenditures. However, the Closed Schools were not spending more money than similarly0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

7.00%

8.00%

Closed Schools Low-Capacity Schools

Percent of Students Who Are White

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situated schools. In fact, EPISD actually saved money at the Closed Schools compared to the 

Low Capacity Schools and allocated approximately $150 less per student to the Closed Schools 

than the Low Capacity Schools. 

The Closed Schools did not receive substantial funding for construction in 

connection with the closures, unlike the whiter schools that were scheduled for potential closure 

as part of the Bond Project. The Bond Schools that were elementary schools and slated for 

potential closure and consolidation had about nineteen times the concentration of white students 

as the Closed Schools. 

Although Jacobs had recommended that significant funding be provided to 

improve the Chamizal Schools, neither the 2019 closure decision nor the Bond Project required 

funding to be provided for construction or improvements at the Chamizal Schools. 

Only one fact explains EPISD’s choice to close the Closed Schools over the Low 

Capacity Schools without associated funding for construction: the Closed Schools were less 

white and more Hispanic and Mexican-American than the Low Capacity Schools. 

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

7.00%

8.00%

Closed Schools Bond Schools

Percent of Students Who Are White

Case 3:20-cv-00170 Document 1 Filed 06/15/20 Page 29 of 44
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Rather than providing funding for construction of new schools or renovation of 

existing schools in connection with the closures of the Closed Schools, EPISD sent Beall and 

Burleson students to Douglass and Zavala elementary schools. 

Both Douglass and Zavala (i) were built in the 1920s, (ii) are among EPISD’s 

oldest schools, and (iii) required significant maintenance, including the repair of such basic but 

vital problems as cracked drains, damaged and leaking roofing, windows that are unable to open 

posing a potential fire hazard, and building controls (e.g., air conditioning systems) past their 

useful life. 

EPISD’s failure to provide funding to the Chamizal Schools for construction 

comparable to that provided to their less Hispanic and Mexican-American counterparts that were 

slated for potential closure through the Bond Project, is consistent with longstanding EPISD 

practice of providing less funding to the Chamizal Schools and schools with greater percentages 

of Mexican-American students. 

EPISD, by vote of its Board, has regularly allocated less per capita state and local 

funding to schools with greater percentages of Hispanic or Mexican-American students than it 

allocates to similarly-situated schools with greater percentages of white students and lesser 

percentages of Mexican-American students. 

H. The District’s Internal Complaint Process 

On or about April 16, 2019, Familias Unidas’s predecessor organizations, Beall 

Parents Committee and Burleson Parents Committee, filed a complaint with the District 

regarding premature closure actions occurring at their schools through the District’s internal 

complaint procedures. 

After meeting with members of the committees, the principals of Beall and 

Burleson sent written decisions regarding the complaint on or about May 13, 2019. 

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On or about May 22, 2019, Beall Parents Committee and Burleson Parents 

Committee appealed the principals’ decisions. 

On or about May 30, 2019, EPISD staff again met with the parents’ committees. 

At the meeting, some parents expressed their concerns related to the grievance in Spanish. On or 

about June 10, 2019, the District responded to the appeal. 

Beall and Burleson both shut their doors in May 2019. 

On or about June 24, 2019, Beall Parents Committee and Burleson Parents 

Committee appealed the assistant superintendent’s decision to the Board. 

The Board was provided with a packet of materials concerning the appeal, which 

included transcriptions of audio tapes recorded at the lower grievance levels. 

The District included the statements of English speakers in the transcripts 

provided to the Board but failed to translate or even transcribe the vast majority of the Spanish 

dialogue from the audio tapes. As a result, the Board was unable to access transcripts of the vast 

majority of the comments of Spanish-speakers. 

On August 20, 2019, the Board considered and formally denied the complaints. 

I. The Board’s Reconsideration of the Closures 

Later on August 20, 2019, after denying the complaints, the Board again 

convened to decide whether to reconsider its decision to close Beall and Burleson. Numerous 

members of the community, including El Paso elected officials and community leaders, spoke in 

favor of reopening Beall and Burleson to ensure the safety of students. 

Between the January 2019 and August 2019 votes on the fate of Beall and 

Burleson, the composition of the Board of Trustees had changed substantially. Josh Acevedo 

was elected to the empty seat representing Alta Vista Elementary school. Former Board 

President Trent Hatch resigned following allegations that he did not live in the district he 

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represented. Freddy Khlayel-Avalos was elected to Hatch’s seat, and Bob Geske replaced Hatch 

as president of the Board. Daniel Call was elected to the seat of former trustee Mickey Loweree. 

In July 2019, all three new Board members toured the area surrounding the Chamizal Schools. 

Although EPISD knew that many members of the community would likely 

address the Board in Spanish, EPISD failed to provide a translator at the August 20, 2019 

meeting to reconsider the closure of Beall and Burleson. 

A majority of Board members were not able to understand Spanish well. Without 

a translator, the majority of the Board could not understand comments from Spanish-speakers, 

and Spanish-speakers were unable to be considered by the majority of the Board. 

Defendant Bob Geske, the President of the Board, and the Board member who 

was elected to represent Beall and Douglass elementary schools, did not speak or understand 

Spanish well. 

Several members of the community addressed the Board in Spanish. The 

superintendent, Juan Cabrera, partially translated just one parent’s comment, but most Spanish 

comments went untranslated. 

One community member and member of Familias Unidas, after trying to speak in 

English, cried out: “I need translation, please. I need translation.” Her request went unanswered 

by the Board, and she delivered her comment in Spanish. 

The following speaker offered to translate so the Board could understand what the 

previous speaker had said, but the Board declined her offer, stating that she would need to use 

her two minutes for her own comments.11

11 The State of Texas subsequently recognized the discriminatory nature of refusing to 

allow speakers who require translators appropriate accommodations during public 

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As a result of the lack of a translator, parents who chose or were only able to 

speak in Spanish were not able to be heard or considered by the majority of the Board. 

At the August 20, 2019 Board meeting, members of the public were permitted 

only two minutes to speak, contrary to district policy which allows three minutes to speak and 

provides for continuance to a future meeting time if more time is required. 

At the August 20, 2019 Board meeting, the EPISD Chief of Staff claimed that 

EPISD had done adequate environmental monitoring of the Chamizal Schools. For the first time 

he asserted that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality issued reports that concluded 

that particulate matter “would not be expected to cause adverse acute health effects, vegetation 

effects, or odors,” “would not be expected to cause adverse health effects,” and “would not be 

expected to cause long term adverse human health or vegetation effects.” 

However, the Chief of Staff omitted an important fact: the report he referenced 

had nothing to do with the Chamizal Schools. Rather, the report he was referring to was neither 

prepared in conjunction with EPISD nor based on air quality data from any affected campus, and 

therefore does not help EPISD or the public understand the potential environmental risks at 

EPISD campuses. 

EPISD’s Chief of Staff proceeded to misrepresent statements from Familias 

Unidas’s predecessor organizations, public comments from parents, and counsel for predecessor 

organizations as well as previous communications between EPISD and UTEP scientists, in order 

comments by codifying section 551.007 of the Texas Government Code, which requires 

that the Board provide “a member of the public who addresses the body through a 

translator . . . at least twice the amount of time as a member of the public who does not 

require the assistance of a translator in order to ensure that non-English speakers receive 

the same opportunity to address the body.” In this case, not only did the Board not allow 

additional time, but the Board did not offer translation at all. 

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to incorrectly assure the Board that EPISD had done its due diligence in performing and 

attempting to perform environmental studies. Counsel for Familias Unidas requested a chance to 

rebut these assertions but was not allowed to do so. 

At the August 20, 2019 Board meeting, the three newly-elected members of the 

Board voted to conduct an environmental impact study of the Chamizal area, which would have 

facilitated ensuring student safety in the area, particularly in light of the school consolidations. 

The vote failed to pass, with all of the previous members of the Board voting against it. 

At the August 20, 2019 Board meeting, two newly-elected members of the 

Board—Trustee Acevedo and Trustee Khlayel-Avalos—voted to reopen Beall and Burleson. 

The vote again failed to pass, with all of the previous members of the Board voting against it. 

On August 23, 2019, the Superintendent released a statement declaring, among 

other things: 

EPISD wants to make one thing clear: both Zavala and Douglass 

elementary schools are safe learning facilities for students. They 

have been studied by researchers from the University of Texas at El 

Paso and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality who 

have determined that contamination is not a factor anywhere on 

either campus. 

However, the TCEQ report referenced by the superintendent was the same report 

referenced by the Chief of Staff, and does not help EPISD or the public understand the potential 

environmental risks at EPISD campuses. 

Despite repeatedly requesting this information starting in 2016, EPISD has failed 

to produce to Familias Unidas any study other than Dr. Hargrove’s soil sampling which takes 

measurements or specifically analyzes environmental hazards at the Chamizal Schools. 

On December 17, 2019, the Board voted to approve a resolution authorizing the 

superintendent or his designee to begin accepting offers to purchase, lease, or use the Beall and 

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Burleson campuses, specifically, Beall Elementary School, 320 S. Piedras Street, Lots 17 thru 32 

of Block A, and Lots 1 thru 16 and 20ft X 100 ft adj. on South, Block 1, East El Paso Addition; 

and Burleson Elementary School, 4400 Blanco Avenue, E.R Talley Survey 6 & 7, Abst #180, 

and Tract 2, Block 1, Federal Park Replat A (together, the “Disputed Property”). 

J. Hispanic and Mexican-American Students Have Suffered and Continue to 

Suffer as a Result of the Closures. 

Both before and following the closures of Beall and Burleson, the concerns of 

parents that had been raised regarding the closures came to fruition and have harmed students’ 

education. 

In Spring 2019, when EPISD began the process of closing the schools, including 

removing books from the library and readjusting staffing, students at Beall and Burleson 

experienced significant drops in grades. 

Following the closure of Beall and Burleson Hispanic and Mexican-American 

students and families were injured by: (i) Zavala Elementary School’s inability to accommodate 

all the students who were supposed to attend it under the rezoning, requiring some children to 

attend Hawkins Elementary or other elementary schools; (ii) some children being forced to 

endure 2 to 3 hour round-trip commutes to school each day; (iii) overcrowding and large class 

sizes; (iv) teachers and staff leaving due to poor conditions at the schools, causing insufficient 

staffing of teachers and bus staff, and large numbers of students per teacher; (v) reduced 

availability of extracurricular activities; and (vi) continued concerns related to student safety, 

including exposure to environmental hazards, at Douglass and Zavala elementary schools. 

The closures and consolidations have also resulted in significant personal impacts 

to parents and students, including devastation to the local community from the closure of Beall 

and Burleson, which are central parts of the Chamizal and Jefferson communities. 

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The personal impacts to students and parents stemming from the closures have 

caused nightmares, difficulty sleeping, anxiety attacks, drops in grades, and emotional outbursts 

such as crying, in students who formerly attended Beall and Burleson and did not experience 

such problems before the closures. 

The location of Douglass is unsafe for students. Douglass’s playground is less 

than 300 feet from the nearest actively used industrial site, less than half a mile from EPISD’s 

new central bus hub currently under construction at Bowie High School, and adjacent to both a 

dangerous canal and railroad tracks. The locations of Beall and Burleson are safer for students 

than the location of Douglass. 

The location of Zavala is unsafe for students. Zavala is enclosed on two sides by 

busy highways. The highway is less than 100 feet from the Zavala building, and is subject to 

daily heavy traffic, including trucks idling on the highway and creating significant localized 

pollution as they wait to cross the Mexican border. The locations of Beall and Burleson are safer 

for students than the location of Zavala. 

Following the closures of Beall and Burleson, students in the Chamizal are 

regularly required to make dangerous commutes to school, including walking across bridges over 

dangerous highways that shake and tremble when semitrucks barrel beneath them; are littered 

with glass, garbage and debris; and have large chunks of dangerous glass obstructing ingress and 

egress to the bridge and school; and experience significant amounts of criminal activity. 

Physical access to Zavala Elementary School from the pedestrian bridge over 

highway 110 is unpaved, and at times includes large puddles of standing water on wet and rainy 

days, and such puddles often include dangerous debris, such as large chunks of glass. 

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Students at more white schools in EPISD do not experience environmental and 

safety hazards as prevalently as the Chamizal Schools because EPISD does more to protect 

students at schools with greater concentrations of white students. 

The dangerous and long commutes for students in the Chamizal and other schools 

with greater percentages of Hispanic or Mexican-American students are exacerbated by the 

school providing fewer and less adequate transportation options, including fewer and less 

thorough transportation routes, compared to less Hispanic and Mexican-American schools. 

EPISD insufficiently staffs Douglass and Zavala for the number of students that 

the schools now accommodates, resulting in understaffing, large numbers of students per staff 

member, and regular staffing of substitute teachers, all factors which, together, impact the ability 

of teachers and staff to ensure student safety and quality education. 

The insufficient staffing of Douglass and Zavala includes insufficient nurses; at 

the Chamizal Schools, school nurses are only on campus some days of the week. 

The closures and consolidations have resulted in diminished educational quality, 

diminished educational opportunities, and significant financial and emotional harms to parents 

and students. 

For example, as a result of problems associated with the closures of Beall and 

Burleson, Cemelli de Aztlan, a lecturer at the University of Texas El Paso and a member of 

Plaintiff’s board, moved to a different neighborhood. In her new neighborhood, Ms. De Aztlan 

now faces the hurdle of paying about $200 more in rent each month than she would have paid in 

the Chamizal area. Had Beall and Burleson stayed open, Ms. De Aztlan and her children would 

have remained in the Chamizal area. Moreover, not only are the problems associated with the 

closures of Beall and Burleson so great that she is willing to suffer financial difficulty to avoid 

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38 

those problems, but she has also accepted being separated from her previously well-established 

community safety net in the Chamzal in order to avoid the myriad difficulties stemming from 

EPISD’s discriminatory decision. However, Ms. De Aztlan views these hurdles as well worth it, 

to protect her children from the difficulties imposed on students and parents as a result of the 

closures. 

The closures have posed significant safety risks to students at Douglass and 

Zavala and have exacerbated the pre-existing and long-standing discriminatory practices of 

EPISD against the Chamizal neighborhood. 

Plaintiff has suffered, is suffering, and will continue to suffer irreparable injury as 

a result of Defendants’ actions described in this complaint if not enjoined by the Court. 

Plaintiff’s members have also suffered, are suffering, and will continue to suffer irreparable 

injury as a result of Defendants’ actions and would have standing to sue in their own right. 

CAUSES OF ACTION 

COUNT I: VIOLATIONS OF THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE 

AS ENFORCED BY 42 U.S.C. § 1983

Plaintiff incorporates by reference the foregoing paragraphs as though fully set 

forth herein. 

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “No 

State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” 

EPISD, through its Board, intentionally discriminated against students who 

attended Beall and Burleson, as well as their families, on the basis of their race and/or national 

origin in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. 

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Defendants purposefully discriminated and/or continue to discriminate on the 

basis of race and/or national origin against Hispanic and Mexican-American parents and students 

by: 

a) Manipulating capacity measurement criteria to promote closure of schools 

with more Mexican-American students and in more Mexican-American 

neighborhoods, and preventing closure of schools with more white 

students and in more white neighborhoods. 

b) Closing and consolidating the Chamizal Schools without closing similarlysituated whiter schools; 

c) Closing and consolidating the Chamizal Schools without providing 

funding for construction of new facilities, when similarly-situated schools 

with a greater percentage of white students that were slated for closure 

also received funding for construction of new facilities; 

d) Failing to provide translation for Spanish-speaking parents of important 

meetings and documents, which has (i) prevented monolingual Spanishspeaking parents from understanding important comments and information 

by English speakers, including staff and trustees; and (ii) prevented 

monolingual Spanish-speaking parents from providing meaningful input 

on important district-wide issues on which English-speaking parents may 

provide meaningful input, including school closures. 

e) Allocating less funding to the Chamizal Schools compared to similarlysituated schools with a greater percentage of white students; and 

f) Failing to take appropriate steps to ensure safety at the Chamizal Schools 

and other schools with a high percentage of Hispanic and MexicanAmerican students, including preventing students from being exposed to 

environmental hazards and ensuring students are able to safely commute 

to school. 

At all relevant times, Defendants were acting or purporting to act under color of 

state law. 

Plaintiff has no adequate remedy at law. 

COUNT II: VIOLATIONS OF TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 

Plaintiff incorporates by reference the foregoing paragraphs as though fully set 

forth herein. 

Case 3:20-cv-00170 Document 1 Filed 06/15/20 Page 39 of 44
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Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000d, et seq. (“Title VI”), 

provides that “No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national 

origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination 

under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” 

Defendant EPISD operates programs in receipt of federal funds and are thus 

covered by Title VI’s prohibition on race and national origin discrimination. 

The United States Department of Justice, which oversees enforcement of and 

compliance with Title VI by recipients of federal funds, issued guidance entitled Guidance for 

Federal Financial Assistance Recipients Regarding Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin 

Discrimination Affecting Limited English Proficient Persons, 67 F.R. 41455 (June 18, 2002), 

which states that “Under DOJ regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

42 U.S.C. § 2000d, et seq., (Title VI), recipients of Federal financial assistance have a 

responsibility to ensure meaningful access to their programs and activities by persons with 

limited English proficiency.” 

A January 7, 2015 “Dear Colleague” letter written jointly by the DOE’s Assistant 

Secretary for Civil Rights and the USDOJ Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights 

provided guidance concerning the importance of providing access to LEP parents of public 

school children, stating: 

School districts and [State Educational Agencies] have an obligation 

to ensure meaningful communication with LEP parents in a 

language they can understand and to adequately notify LEP parents 

of information about any program, service, or activity of a school 

district or SEA that is called to the attention of non-LEP parents. At 

the school and district levels, this essential information includes but 

is not limited to information regarding: language assistance 

programs, special education and related services, IEP meetings, 

grievance procedures, notices of nondiscrimination, student 

discipline policies and procedures, registration and enrollment, 

Case 3:20-cv-00170 Document 1 Filed 06/15/20 Page 40 of 44
41 

report cards, requests for parent permission for student participation 

in district or school activities, parent-teacher conferences, parent 

handbooks, gifted and talented programs, magnet and charter 

schools, and any other school and program choice options. . . . It is 

not sufficient for the staff to merely be bilingual. 

EPISD is aware that a significant portion of the parents within its geographical 

boundaries do not speak English. 

EPISD is aware that a significant portion of the parents within the Chamizal 

neighborhood do not speak English. 

Defendants purposefully discriminated and/or continue to discriminate on the 

basis of race and/or national origin against Hispanic and Mexican-American parents and students 

by: 

a) Manipulating capacity measurement criteria to promote closure of schools 

with more Mexican-American students and in more Mexican-American 

neighborhoods, and preventing closure of schools with more white 

students and in more white neighborhoods. 

b) Closing and consolidating the Chamizal Schools without closing similarlysituated whiter schools; 

c) Closing and consolidating the Chamizal Schools without providing 

funding for construction of new facilities, when similarly-situated schools 

with a greater percentage of white students that were slated for closure 

also received funding for construction of new facilities; 

d) Failing to provide translation for Spanish-speaking parents of important 

meetings and documents, which has (i) prevented monolingual Spanishspeaking parents from understanding important comments and information 

by English speakers, including staff and trustees; and (ii) prevented 

monolingual Spanish-speaking parents from providing meaningful input 

on important district-wide issues on which English-speaking parents may 

provide meaningful input, including school closures. 

e) Allocating less funding to the Chamizal Schools compared to similarlysituated schools with a greater percentage of white students; and 

Case 3:20-cv-00170 Document 1 Filed 06/15/20 Page 41 of 44
42 

f) Failing to take appropriate steps to ensure safety at the Chamizal Schools 

and other schools with a high percentage of Hispanic and MexicanAmerican students, including preventing students from being exposed to 

environmental hazards and ensuring students are able to safely commute 

to school. 

RELIEF REQUESTED 

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that this Court: 

1. declare that Defendants have violated, continue to violate, and threaten to violate 

the laws of the United States as described above; 

2. issue a permanent injunction— 

a. enjoining EPISD from selling, leasing, exchanging, or otherwise 

encumbering the Disputed Property; 

b. requiring EPISD to reopen Beall and Burleson; 

c. requiring EPISD to provide funding to the Chamizal Schools for updates 

and construction consistent with that provided to other schools in the Bond 

Project; 

d. requiring EPISD to conduct testing and remediation to ensure safety, 

including environmental safety, at the Chamizal Schools; 

e. requiring EPISD to ensure student safety at the Chamizal schools, 

including (i) changing the attendance zones for the Chamizal Schools to 

ensure that no student is required to cross Highways 54, 110, or 62 to 

attend the school in their attendance zone; (ii) providing sufficient staffing 

to ensure student safety; (iii) making improvements to Chamizal School 

facilities, including modern HVAC systems with air filtration for ultrafine 

particulate matter; (iv) implementing pollution mitigation barriers at the 

Case 3:20-cv-00170 Document 1 Filed 06/15/20 Page 42 of 44
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Chamizal Schools; and (v) adding fencing to prevent students from being 

injured by hazards, including the canal near Douglass; and 

f. requiring EPISD to implement policies and procedures to ensure adequate 

communication with Spanish-speaking parents, including translation at 

Board meetings and translation of documents and any information that is 

provided to English-speaking parents; 

3. appoint a monitor to ensure EPISD’s compliance with this Court’s order; 

4. award Plaintiffs’ reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 

1988; and 

5. grant such other relief as the Court deems appropriate. 

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Dated: June 15, 2020 Respectfully submitted, 

TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID, INC. 

 Robert H. Rankin (N.Y. Bar # 5508585) 

Margaret Barnes* (Bar # 24114160) 

1331 Texas Avenue 

El Paso, Texas 79901 

T: (915) 585-5100 

F: (915) 544-3789 

rrankin@trla.org 

mbarnes@trla.org 

* Application for admission pending. 

Julia Renee Longoria (Bar # 24070166) 

1111 N Main Ave 

San Antonio, Texas 78212 

T: (210) 212-3700 

F: (210) 229-9328 

jlongoria@trla.org 

Peter E. McGraw (Bar # 24081036) 

1206 E Van Buren St 

Brownsville, Texas 78520 

T: (956) 982-5540 

F: (956) 541-1410 

pmcgraw@trla.org 

Counsel for Plaintiff

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