El Paso ISD board adopts policy to opt out of allowing non‑enrolled (homeschool) students in UIL activities

The El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 5‑2 on July 29, 2025, to adopt revisions to Board Policy FM (Local Student Activities) that decline to grant non‑enrolled students — commonly described in the meeting as homeschool students — the opportunity to participate in University Interscholastic League extracurricular activities.

The vote came after more than an hour of questions and discussion about funding, eligibility verification, UIL rules on practice hours and the way UIL counts non‑enrolled students for conference realignment. Trustee Leverage moved to adopt the revisions and Trustee Cuellar seconded; the board chair recorded the final tally as 5 in favor, 2 opposed.

David Cervantes, executive director of athletics for El Paso ISD, told trustees the district’s longstanding practice is to deny participation by homeschool students. “We don't allow homeschool — excuse me, homeschool students for various reasons. 1, there's not a funding source that comes with a homeschool student,” Cervantes said. He also cited differences in how eligibility is documented: “Eligibility for UIL, that's done at in the classroom with, teachers, with a homeschool student that is done at home with a parent.”

Cervantes described other operational concerns trustees raised: the district would have to track grade eligibility on UIL’s three‑week reporting cycle and verify practice-hour limits. “The UIL is strict in, ensuring that students only practice 8 hours per school week,” he said, adding that unverified outside practice could jeopardize a team’s eligibility and potentially lead to a roll ruling.

Trustees also discussed how UIL counts non‑enrolled students for conference realignment. Cervantes said the association can apply a multiplication factor that treats each participating non‑enrolled student as “1 and a half” for enrollment calculations, which could push a campus into a higher classification. He gave examples of thresholds cited in the discussion: “5A conference ... sits at 1,260. And then anything over 1,260 is considered a would go into a 6A conference.”

Trustee Collier opposed the policy revisions, citing equity and recruitment concerns. “I think that this is not gonna help our enrollment, so I'm gonna be voting no on this,” Collier said, adding that families who live in the district and pay taxes should have access to extracurriculars.

Other trustees and members of the public said some homeschool families seek public‑school athletics for reasons of cost and socialization and that a system could be developed to verify grades for eligibility. “Why couldn't we do something similar to that where we could keep track of their grades?” one trustee said, recounting a parent’s suggestion and noting re‑enrollment forms used when homeschooled students return to public school.

Board legal counsel and staff framed the vote as an annual choice tied to state law. Trustees referenced a legislative update slide discussing Senate Bill 401 (also referenced in the packet as HB 401), which requires districts to adopt a policy stating whether they will grant non‑enrolled students opportunity to participate; the district’s action was presented as adopting the policy to decline that opportunity. Staff said other districts in El Paso County had either opted out or were in the process of opting out.

A number of trustees urged caution because the financial and enrollment impacts are uncertain. Cervantes said, from his office’s recent experience, inquiries by homeschool families were rare: “I've spoken to 2 homeschool students over the course of the 4 years ... We have 1 inquiry as of today, with this new bill, but we have not heard out of the athletics department of any other students interested in coming in.”

The board’s formal motion read on the record as: “I move that the board adopt the proposed revisions to board policy FM local student activities as presented.” After a roll call and a correction when one trustee’s initial vote did not register, the chair announced the final result as 5 in favor and 2 opposed and declared the motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 11:29 a.m.

What the action does and next steps: The board adopted policy language declining to grant non‑enrolled students the opportunity to participate in UIL activities for the 2025‑26 cycle. Staff noted the district could revisit the policy in future years and that districts must follow state and UIL deadlines for making an opt‑out decision. Staff and trustees said they would need to monitor enrollment, budget impacts and any changes in UIL or state guidance.

Votes at a glance:
• Adoption of revisions to Board Policy FM (Local Student Activities) — Motion to adopt by Trustee Leverage; second by Trustee Cuellar — Outcome: approved, final tally 5‑2 (named opposing vote: Trustee Collier; named correction: Trustee Osterlund affirmed a ‘‘yes’’ vote after an initial button did not register).