socorro isd board memberssocorro isd board members

} I dont have the authority to direct or remove a trustee, of course, so the board will have to self govern and decide once theyve all had a chance to hear it what, if any, action they would take, Carman said. The community isnt looking for someone to come in and revamp district practices that are working, but rather a collaborative leader who will bring fresh ideas and initiatives, he said. SISD released the report to El Paso Matters in response to a public records request. El Paso Matters is dedicated to providing our community with the information to make educated, informed decisions. (James Guerra and Paul Guerra are not related.). That led the Texas Education Agency to open an investigation into the audit findings, he added. } Sign up for our free newsletter. .inner_percentage, .inner_percentage.Nonpartisan, .inner_percentage.Independent, .inner_percentage.Constitution, .inner_percentage.unknown { The recording reflected Castellanos attempt to oust the principal at his wifes school an abuse of power that prompted a Texas Rangers investigation. In her social media post, Castellano does not mention that she was the one who recorded the conversation and sent it to the school district. Socorro Independent School District, Texas, elections (2021) Najera works in health care finance and operations. Gardea said she has 28 years of experience working in SISD as a teacher and a counselor. position: absolute; Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. .votebox-results-metadata-p { She previously covered food and environment at The Arizona Republic. } .image-candidate-thumbnail-wrapper { Gabriela Castellano was reassigned from Bill Sybert School to James P. Butler Elementary sometime after being placed on administrative leave on March 9, 2022. The Sybert campus is in the school board district represented by Ricardo Castellano; Butler is in a different school board district. text-align: center; .inner_percentage.Republican { They in turn can ask the superintendent or an auditor to look into the concern; beyond that, trustees have no purview over the subsequent course of action the district takes. Ricardo Castellano, a Socorro Independent School District trustee, is under investigation by the Texas Rangers for allegations of official oppression, according to an investigation report. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters). "Achieving Success as a Team" Cover photo: Socorro Independent School District Superintendent Jos Espinoza congratulated a student at the opening of the Pebble Hills Early College campus in 2019. margin-bottom: 4px; Castellanos wife, Gabriela, is also under investigation for allegations of stalking, according to the report, which the Texas Department of Public Safety released to El Paso Matters via an open records request. The SISD Board of - Socorro Independent School District - Facebook margin-top: 16px; Both SISD Board President Mena and Superintendent Nate Carman agreed that it would be inappropriate for a trustee to direct the superintendent on how to handle a personnel issue. letter-spacing: .03em; In the recording, both Castellano and Barrera appear to be buoyed by the impact their victory was having on the district. Alaska Arkansas Socorro Education Association President Angie Soto received the recording as part of a separate records request that she filed in order to support union members who told her they were being bullied and harassed by Gabriela Castellano. We ask that you follow some simple guidelines: https://elpasomatters.org/republishing-guidelines/. padding-bottom: 8px; Shes fucked up. If that is taking place, members of this board have violated the Texas Open Meetings Act, said trustee Cynthia Najera. You had a vision of treating every student as your own and we believed in that vision, said Rodriguez, an Espinoza supporter who also was ousted Saturday. He oversaw SISDs rapid growth and the opening of five elementary schools, a middle and a high school. EL PASO,TX ( KTSM) - The Socorro Independent School District (SISD) Board of Trustees on Tuesday, June 22 approved a pay raise for all district employees and a bonus stipend for teachers that will be paid in August and September. 18. We ask that you follow some simple guidelines: https://elpasomatters.org/republishing-guidelines/. .mw-content-ltr td.votebox-results-cell--text, A trustees role, Alsbury said, is to monitor the progress on strategic goals, not to monitor or try to control the processes or operational ends of the organization.. background-color: #db0000; The Socorro Independent School District has been without a permanent superintendent since Jos Espinoza resigned in early May. May 1, 2021. } } It would be neat to see an El Pasoan (hired), but you also want the best person for the job no matter where theyre from, Chavira said. Florist. max-height: 580px; Hed be coming from a meeting with the interim superintendent, where he planned to discuss the principal of the school where his wife Gabriela taught third grade. Their entire Aug. 10, 2021, conversation and nearly the entire day leading up to it and the day after was captured by a recording device or application on Gabriela Castellanos phone. Michael Najera's appointment occurred one week after the board held the April 26meeting and approved allocating a week for community members to apply to fill the position,and two weeks after Garcia announced his resignation. Support local! } padding-bottom: 7px; If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you. display: inline; Get your copy of Nobodys Pilgrims at Literarity Book Shop and join us on July 29 to meet El Paso author, Sergio Troncoso. SISD has five single-member districts and two at-large districts with trustees representing the seven total districts on the school board. Only Cindy Najera, Gandara, Guerra and Rodriguez were present for Tuesdays vote. That was an extremely valuable tool to hear how this candidate related to each of our different community members, whether it was parents, or staff or students, she told James Guerra at the Dec. 14 meeting. padding:7px 8px 8px; Please reload the page and try again. State executives | OCT 11, 2022 The Socorro Independent School District invites students, parents, employees, community members, and constituents to participate in the 2022 SISD Redistricting Community Survey. } Former Socorro Independent School District administrator Marivel Macias and incumbent Michael Najera won the two at-large seats on the school board. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Counties | The agency is investigating Gabriela Castellano for stalking, according to the heavily redacted investigative report the Rangers released to El Paso Matters in response to a public records request. 2023 Copyright El Paso Matters. Garcia's term was set to expire in May 2023, so Michael Najera will serve through the end of Garcia's term. Socorro ISD board to begin reviewing superintendent candidates in Copyright 2023 Socorro Independent School District. border-bottom: 1px solid grey; An open search would drop the applicant pool from 50 to 20 people, he estimated. letter-spacing: .04em; Ricardo and Gabriela Castellano did not respond to multiple interview requests. The district retired $20,439,714 of its debt and issued $43,506,000 in new debt each year on average.[4]. .inner_percentage.Green { An open search would diminish the depth of the (applicant) talent pool, James Guerra told trustees at the Dec. 14 board meeting. In particular, we are grateful to } background-color: #db0000; Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. She is one of only two SISD school board incumbents to win reelection in the general election May 1. Click here to view or fill out the survey. We have been dehumanized by those who feel entitled to RAPING our privacy, Castellano wrote in a Dec. 12 post about the potential publication of the recording. Elegance & Charm Pastry and flower shop. Teacher Vacancy Task Force Overview | Texas Education Agency text-align: center; It is not their job to initiate any type of proposed personnel action, said Carman, who the board hired on March 14, 2022. Socorro Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sex, national origin, age, disability, military status, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by law in its employment practices or in providing education services, activities, and programs, including career and technical education (vocational programs). Whoops! } She wants to prioritize the staffing shortage in special education, among other goals. overflow-x: auto; margin-top: 1em; Socorro Independent School District | Home Before the board announced its decision Wednesday night, Castellano and Barrera criticized them for acting before newly elected trustees took their seats. } EL PASO, Texas- In a 4-3 vote last week, the Socorro Independent School District board has put an end to their "memorandum of understanding" (MOU) or agreement with the Socorro Police Department. (Elliott, however, remained principal of Bill Sybert School throughout the entirety of Carmonas tenure.). Asked how much he considers a trustees personal opinion before presenting them a hiring recommendation, Carman responded zero. We base our recommendation on their (the applicants) qualifications, their experience and how they present themselves in the interview, he said. The Board's major duties include: Adopting goals . Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. .inner_percentage.Democratic { background-color: #f9d334; Texas Rangers investigate Socorro ISD board member, wife width: 50px; District 3 includes the neighborhoods and schools just north of Montwood Middle School between George Dieter Drive and Loop 375. How to run for office | Board of Trustees / Home - LISD Now, a decade later, the school board is poised to take the more conventional approach among Texas districts of naming a sole finalist. Each Monday morning we deliver critical El Paso news right to your inbox. Please consider making a donation today so we can cover the stories that matter most. General election date. SISD also said they are cooperating with the investigation, but are not able to speak on an active investigation. El Paso school board elections bring new blood into EPISD, Socorro school districts, El Paso school board candidates' campaign finances show heavy special interest funding, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. The investigation remains active and ongoing, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed on Dec. 14. La vas a bajar del avin? padding-left: 0; Support local! The Texas Penal Code defines stalking as when a person, on more than one occasion, knowingly threatens someone such that a reasonable person would feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed, or offended.. 2023 www.elpasotimes.com. Socorro ISD Board selects Marta Carmona as Interim Superintendent of font-size: 1.25em; The TEA investigation remains active, Carman said. The district hit an all-time high enrollment this year, surpassing 48,000 students. Socorro Independent School District Superintendent Jos Espinoza congratulated a student at the opening of the Pebble Hills Early College campus in 2019. Support local! They had hoped the board would adopt a face mask mandate; instead, trustees took no action and Carmona said she would not issue such a policy herself despite a handful of other Texas superintendents having done so. Sign up for our free newsletter. And I hope that the public understands that were losing a strong superintendent, Guerra said. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Research: Josh Altic Vojsava Ramaj Phone: 915-937-0000. if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; What's on my ballot? Socorro ISD Board Of Trustees Regular Board Meeting - May 17th, 2022 @ 6:00 PM. Trustees David Morales and Ricardo Castellano, however, said they did not want to jeopardize limiting the candidate pool by publicly naming multiple finalists. .percentage_number { Log In. text-align: center; Socorro Independent School District - Facebook When asked whether other trustees are under investigation, Carman said he could not comment. Mena had a donation of $2,500 from the El Paso Association of Contractors and $1,000 each from Jessica D. Bateman and Sarah Johnson, both in Arizona. font-weight: 200; } Public Safety, and Agricultural Extension Service as well as serving as a Parent Liaison with Socorro ISD. The balance of power changed in 2021 when Castellano and Barrera ousted two incumbents by the razor-thin margins of 23 and 24 votes, respectively. EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) There are accusations out of the Socorro Independent School District suggesting some board members, along with Superintendent Dr. Nate Carman, could have had a. Elliott served as principal of Bill Sybert K-8 School from 2016 through June 2022, when she became principal of Socorro Middle School. Each trustee represents one of seven single-member districts and is elected by voters of that district. padding-left: 0; Ricardo Castellano said he and his wife could not comment on the investigation. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Espinoza's employment. and Mrs. Castellano are both fine members of the community who work hard to serve the students of SISD. padding-left: 16px; font-size: 12px; District Maps and Boundaries | Socorro Independent School District Whoops!

 padding-left: 10px !important; A candidate who does not want to be publicly identified could decide to withdraw their name from consideration. The recording has also been turned over to the Texas Education Agency as part of the agencys open investigation into the district, said Carman. Everybodys husbands and boyfriends come in.. He was last re-elected in the May 2015 general election. The investigation remains open, TEA spokesperson Jake Kobersky said. During the campaign, Barrera was particularly critical of a February 2020 internal audit that found that 29 high school students graduated in 2019 despite being ineligible to do so. 		background-color: #003388; Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Community Guidelines |, KVIA-TV FCC Public File | FCC Applications |, Breaking News 		letter-spacing: 0.03em; Socorro ISD has sought to keep the recording from being made public, going so far as to file an improper reconsideration request with the Texas Attorney Generals office after the office ruled in August 2022 that the recording had to be released in response to a public records request from El Paso Matters. 		display: inline-block; We understand why you have to leave, and we get it. 	} 	color: white; 		display: table;  She had held the District 3 seat since 2010. I got the opportunity to join the board again  and I think the results show that I have the support.. Go ahead, bitch. They have been named twice as the Region 19 Board of the Year in 2012 and 2015. 	} Each Monday morning we deliver critical El Paso news right to your inbox. While the board has the power to hire and fire the superintendent, they do not have the authority to hire and fire lower-level employees. We have expectations that our board members will be professional, treat each other with respect and understand what role each person plays, she said. Barrera calls a separate administrator an oompa loompa. Earlier in the recording, Castellano referred to that same person as a fat fuck in a conversation with his wife. The following salary information was pulled from the district's teacher salary schedule. Most of those students had not completed loss-of-credit contracts, which are assigned to students whose attendance falls below the state-mandated 90% threshold. The former chief, who described being appalled by parts of the recording, said his hope is that the law supports the people affected by this situation  (so) the district is able to move forward and those affected find closure.. Castellano and Barrera criticized Espinoza and the current board majority on the campaign trail, accusing them of lacking transparency. 		.race_header, .results_text, .results_table_container, .votebox_legend { SISD's Montwood High School in East El Paso (Cindy Ramirez / El Paso Matters). State legislature | 	} 	.results_row td { Such behavior would constitute trustee micromanagement and overreach into the districts operations, which is the superintendents job. Castellanos words also reflect the school board member overstepping his role and abusing his authority. Were school board gods, Barrera replies. 	.race_header.green { Amazing moment for No. 	} Ricardo Castellano  defeated incumbent Angelica Rodriguez and Fancy Adams in the  general election for Socorro Independent School District, District 3 on May 1, 2021. Socorro Independent School District, Texas, elections (2023) Najera spoke out in support ofthe measure. Mena and Morales were absent.  by Molly Smith, El Paso Matters May 5, 2021, This article first appeared on El Paso Matters and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.. 		background-color: #6db24f; Shes a great principal considering all the stuff that she was going through with Mr. Castellano constantly being there (at the campus) with his wife while she was teaching.. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. 	} Her redacted comes in with a lot of authority, reads another quote, which notes that the redacted individual is a police officer and comes in with his gun.. Each Monday morning we deliver critical El Paso news right to your inbox. Board of Trustees | Socorro Independent School District All rights reserved. 		font-size: 20px; Official oppression is generally a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in county jail and up to a $4,000 fine. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. See more of Socorro Independent School District on Facebook. 		width: 100%; KVIA ABC 7 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. 		text-align: left !important; Morales ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Socorro Independent School District Board of Trustees in Texas. Please reload the page and try again. The firm will collect applications through Jan. 13, which the board will receive at its Jan. 18 meeting. Led by Superintendent Nate Carman, SISD spans parts of Far East El Paso, all of Socorro and portions of Horizon City. } Texas Rangers investigate Socorro ISD board member, wife - MSN 		height: 100%; 		padding-top: 8px; 		font-size: 16px; They have been named twice as the Region 19 Board of the Year in 2012 and 2015. 		font-size: 2em; You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here. Theres this notion that theres still much more we can do, he said. And its a shame. Contact our sales team. Board president Cynthia Cindy Najera, Secretary Paul Guerra and Trustees Angelica Rodriguez, Gary Gandara, Eduardo Eddie Mena and David Morales voted to proceed with the agreement after a 1-hour closed-door meeting. Theres one teacher who causes a lot of problems with other teachers. The three community forums the firm held earlier this month drew only three people, and only two trustees were present: Paul Guerra and Cynthia Najera. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. Espinozas sudden departure comes days after two of the four members in the majority voting faction lost their re-election bids, giving board control to a group of relative newcomers who have been increasingly critical of Espinozas performance. MOBILE PET VET. Espinoza, 50, will receive $629,308, which is equivalent to one years salary and benefits. Get your copy of Nobodys Pilgrims at Literarity Book Shop and join us on July 29 to meet El Paso author, Sergio Troncoso. Election Day El Paso 2023: what to know for May 6 election "The location and environment for enforcement of our federal laws is not at school," Najera said at the time. In its communication with the Texas attorney general, the district wrote that the recording appears to have been made by mistake and inadvertently disclosed to the district.. Severe Weather Two SISD board trustees raised concerns that newly appointed  - KVIA Gabriela Castellano was incensed about the Aug. 10 meeting Elliott and Assistant Principal Lorenza Gonzalez had with her to discuss two of Ricardo Castellanos recent visits to her classroom during what Elliott said was the instructional day., Gabriela Castellano appears to have turned on her recorder at the start of the Aug. 10 meeting; when she intended to stop it is unclear. May 6, 2023 Enrollment ('17-'18) 46,543 students Three seats on the Socorro Independent School District school board in Texas were up for general election on May 6, 2023. Im going to talk to (interim superintendent Marta) Carmona about this principal here thinking shes all badass. I can tell you that I have been contacted by the Texas Rangers and that I cannot comment on anything, Carman said. Gibson, wish to thank the Socorro Independent School District Board of Trustees; Superintendent Don Schulte; Ben DeBellis, who acted as district liaison to the review team;and the district employees, students, and community members who provided valuable information and assistance during TSPR's work in the district. Single-member districts were implemented in 1986. 	.results_table { More by Molly Smith. [6], The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:[7], The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:[7][8], During the 2018-2019 school year, 73.7% of the district's students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 21.8% were English language learners, and 10.5% of students had an Individual Education Plan (IEP).[11]. El Paso Matters Book Club: Nobodys Pilgrims in-person discussion, Texas Rangers investigation into Castellano, longtime Superintendent Jos Espinoza resigned, tasked with approving all hiring decisions, citing alleged policy violations by the chief, notes that the DAs Office on March 8, 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, T Gua de Votacin: Elecciones del 6 de mayo, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Click here to view or fill out the survey. Guerra, whose Austin-based firm JG Consulting is leading the search for SISDs new leader, recommended against repeating 2012s selection process. Get your copy of Nobodys Pilgrims at Literarity Book Shop and join us on July 29 to meet El Paso author, Sergio Troncoso. We got an idiot there, Castellano says of Carmona, as he and Barrera discuss the Aug. 10, 2021, school board meeting, which had wrapped up hours earlier. .partytd.Democratic { Carmona left the district for El Paso ISD in August 2022. SISD is El Pasos only large growing district, though its student population growth is starting to slow. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. 		font-style: italic; | Socorro Independent School District, Texas, elections (2021), Socorro Independent School District, Texas, Socorro Independent School District school board. I hope the new board members come in with not an agenda. Trustees Mena, Morales and Paul Garcia  who were elected in May 2019  were the most outspoken about the audit. My tenure on the Socorro ISD board The three incumbents  Najera, Mena and Morales  reported the most donations in the last campaign finance reports.  Instructional time is super valued, Elliott says in the recording. 		height: 56px; U.S. President | Four other candidates trailed.  Socorro trustees followed his recommendation and unanimously approved a job posting that says interviews will be conducted behind closed doors with only board members and that only a lone finalist will be named. I am absolutely positive, without question, it made a big difference in our last search, said Trustee Michael Najera, who was also part of the board who hired Espinoza.