Troop Talk
Maj. Gen. Robert P. Lennox, Fort Bliss Commanding General
I have met with Soldiers in various units and many different groups and will try and answer all their questions in the next few weeks.
We live 0.6 miles from Bliss Elementary School, but I am required to send my child to a school off post. When I inquired at Bliss Elementary, they stated that they are required to accept a certain percentage of El Paso children – why is this? I had to get approval to send my child to Logan Elementary to avoid sending my child to the sub-standard, off-post school. Logan is 1.8 miles from our house.
According to the School Liaison representative here, the assignment of a student to a particular school is controlled by the school attendance area policy and the school attendance area boundaries for that district. Where your family resides will determine what school your children will attend. All students in the El Paso area attend the appropriate district school located within the attendance area of their permanent residence.
Transfers are permitted between schools under special circumstances. A transfer request must be submitted to the principal of the new school. Principals have the authority to approve or deny transfers, depending on several factors. If the transfer request is approved, parents will be responsible for transporting their children to and from the school.
I am not familiar with policy concerning schools accepting a percentage of El Paso children and did not find anything to corroborate this statement.
Sergeants are being told to move back on post after they were told to move off post. Where do they put their items in storage since they have more belongings than normally would fit in the barracks?
Single Soldiers, private through sergeant, are required to reside in available brigade barracks. They are allowed to reside off post only if there is no barracks space. The Garrison commander, Housing Division, is the authority for issuing certificates of non-availability for this purpose. Commanders are required to move Soldiers back into available barracks when they become available. Unit commanders can issue a memorandum to the Transportation Office to allow storage of household goods in these cases.