Records obtained by Rep. Perez show requests that are not spending records; Huffines said the review targets “layers of bureaucracy in central administrative offices”
EL PASO, Texas — State Representative Vince Perez (D-El Paso) this afternoon released the list of records the Texas Comptroller’s office requested from the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) for a review the Comptroller announced as an examination of district spending. Along with budgets, payroll and contracts, the Comptroller’s office asked for an electronic copy of the district’s school library catalogue, the board’s policies on parents’ complaints about human sexuality curriculum, and the number of students enrolled using a Social Security number and the number enrolled using a state-approved alternative identification number. EPISD provided the list in response to a records request Perez filed October 28.
This morning, Perez held a press conference at his El Paso district office with Texas LULAC, LULAC District IV and the Save Our Schools Coalition. He said he had been informed that the Comptroller’s requests included student identification information, that neither he nor the public had seen them, and that on October 28 he had asked the Comptroller and EPISD for every request made for information about students. Asked by a reporter why the Comptroller would seek student information in a financial review, Perez said, “When you look at many of the comments that Comptroller Huffines has made before, I think clearly there’s an intent and a motivation that exists within his office.”
“We are not here to obstruct legitimate financial oversight,” said Dr. Desiree Serna, representing Texas LULAC. “We are here to demand that it be conducted lawfully, transparently, and without compromising the rights of children and families.” Raul Lerma, president of the Austin High School Alumni Association, spoke for the Save Our Schools Coalition.
On October 27, the Comptroller’s office said the reviews of EPISD and three other districts are meant “to determine whether district spending complies with state law and reaches students, classrooms, and teachers — rather than contributing to administrative growth or non-instructional bureaucracy.” Comptroller Don Huffines said, “Texans must have confidence that their school tax dollars support educational opportunities for students, not layers of bureaucracy in central administrative offices.”
“Comptroller Huffines told Texans this review was about ‘layers of bureaucracy in central administrative offices,’” said Rep. Perez. “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. Not one of those is a line in a central-office budget. This isn’t an audit of administrative spending. It’s a fishing expedition.”
Most of the Comptroller’s list asks for records a spending review would use: budgets, payroll, audits, monthly staffing counts, contracts and payments to vendors. Three items are not spending records:
A student ID number does not show a child’s immigration status. The Texas Education Agency defines a student’s ID as “the student’s Social Security number or a state-approved alternative identification number,” and districts assign an alternative number when a family does not provide a Social Security number. The federal Privacy Act of 1974 bars a state or local agency from denying a right or benefit because a person declines to give one. Under Plyler v. Doe, a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case from Tyler, Texas, every child in Texas has the right to attend public school regardless of immigration status.
Huffines has worked on this subject before. As a state senator in 2017, he filed Senate Bill 765, which would have required TEA, “with assistance from the comptroller,” to certify the cost of “providing educational services to persons who are not lawfully present in the United States.” It died in committee. In 2023, the Huffines Liberty Foundation recommended that Texas “require proof of citizenship status for students and parents of students” and “require Texas school districts to count and report all noncitizen students and all children of noncitizens.” A 2025 House bill to have districts report students believed not to be citizens, HB 1512, never received a hearing.
“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,” 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.”
Perez’s October 28 request to the Comptroller, filed under Government Code Section 552.008, asks for every request the Comptroller’s office has made to a district for information about students or their families, the purpose and legal authority for each, and whether any of it has been shared with the Governor’s office, the Attorney General, the Department of Public Safety or any federal agency. Perez asked for those records by November 4. His office has not received a substantive response to the eight questions he sent the Comptroller on October 12, including how El Paso ISD was chosen when, by TEA’s own measure, 79 eligible large districts spend a larger share on administration. EPISD spends 4.20 percent on administration, under TEA’s 4.50 percent standard for districts its size, and holds TEA’s A rating for financial management.
The Comptroller’s October 27 announcement also said its team had finished an on-site visit to Prosper ISD, the first of the four districts, and is “reviewing a tremendous amount of data.” It did not say what data the team requested.
“Comptroller Huffines promised to conduct this review ‘professionally and transparently,’” 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.”
The Comptroller’s initial requests to EPISD, as listed in the district’s response to Rep. Perez:
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Media contact: Jose M. Landeros · info@vinceperez.com
Vince Perez is State Representative for House District 77 in El Paso. He serves on the influential House Ways and Means Committee as well the committees on Higher Education and Local, Consent, and Resolutions Calendars. He is the former El Paso County Commissioner for Precinct 3 and was named the 2016 County Leader of the Year by American City & County Magazine.
