El Paso, Texas: El Paso ISD Gives the State a Student Count by ID Type in Spending Review

El Paso ISD handed the Texas Comptroller's office a count of its students by the kind of identification they enrolled with, a disclosure that has drawn concern in a border district where many families have mixed immigration status.

The count sorts students who enrolled with a Social Security number from students who enrolled with an alternative identification number, the kind a district assigns when no Social Security information is provided. It was given during the comptroller's multi day site visit to the district, which ran from October 26 through October 29 as part of a state review of district spending. District leaders say the data carries no student names and cannot show anyone's immigration status.

Why parents and a state lawmaker are worried

State Rep. Vince Perez of El Paso and advocacy groups worry that Comptroller Don Huffines could use the count to target undocumented students, El Paso Matters reported. Perez wrote to the comptroller on October 12 asking for information about the review, and the comptroller's office faces a 14 day deadline to respond to inquiries about the scope of the investigation.

The request for the student count did not come alone. Huffines also asked the district for budgets, payroll documents and contracts, an electronic copy of the district's school library catalog, and the board policies that govern parent complaints about the human sexuality curriculum.

A spending review that reaches past the ledger

El Paso ISD is one of four districts picked for a detailed spending review. Comptroller Don Huffines announced on October 5 that his office will examine the Austin, Barbers Hill, El Paso and Prosper districts, and a final report is due December 31. El Paso ISD enrolled 46,244 students in the 2025 to 2026 school year, according to the comptroller's office.

Gov. Greg Abbott asked for the review in August. His request was to test whether district spending complies with state law and reaches students, classrooms and teachers rather than administrative growth. The four districts differ in size and location, and districts run by state appointed boards were excluded.

District leaders were expected to give more detail about the visit and the data request at a news conference on Friday. For families in El Paso, the open question is narrower than the audit itself: what a count taken for a spending review can be used for once it leaves the district, and who decides.