Nine candidates, including a write-in, are facing off in the Nov. 3 election for four of the seven at-large seats on the Canutillo Independent School District Board of Trustees. Three seats are full terms and one is an unexpired term.
The three candidates running for the full terms, and one for the unexpired term, who garner the most votes will join the board. They will be tasked with overseeing the ongoing construction projects approved by voters in 2024 under a $387 million bond and improving the district’s academic performance after garnering a C from the state A-F Accountability Rating system for two consecutive years.
Canutillo ISD trustees are elected at-large and represent all of the district’s roughly 5,600 students.
Early voting will be Oct. 19-30.
The candidates running for the three full-term seats include incumbents Cindy Andrade and Breanne Barnes, former Canutillo ISD Superintendent Pedro Galaviz, current board President Sergio Martinez, former Trustee Blanca Trout, technical analyst Ryan Escamilla and Guadalupe Montañez, a principal who’s on administrative leave while she appeals her termination from the district.
Retired Canutillo ISD employee Patsy Mendoza and write-in candidate Brandi Stevenson, whose name will not appear on the ballot, are running for the unexpired term that has two years remaining.
Trustee Lucy Borrego did not file to run for reelection.
The unexpired term was left open after Martinez, who was appointed to his seat in 2024, opted to file for a four-year term instead of finishing his current one.
Martinez, the runner-up in the 2024 school board election, took Trout’s place on the board after she was elected despite withdrawing her name from the race. She missed the deadline to remove her name from the ballot that year.
School board trustees adopt an annual budget, set tax rates, and establish policies, goals and directives for the district to follow. Trustees can also hire and fire the superintendent and are responsible for conducting the district leader’s annual evaluation.
The Canutillo ISD board voted in December 2025 to hire Josue Borrego as the permanent superintendent after Galaviz retired earlier that year.
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Five of the candidates – Carrillo, Galaviz, Martinez, Mendoza and Stevenson – reported not raising any campaign funds. Martinez reported spending $650 from his personal funds; while the others reported no spending, according to their campaign finance reports. Barnes reported raising $1,394 – including about $400 in in-kind contributions – and spending about $955. The others didn’t file any campaign finance reports.
Here’s a look at the candidates running for the Canutillo ISD board:
Blanca Trout
Trout, 64, was first elected to the Canutillo ISD board in 2016. She has an associate degree in business administration from El Paso Community College and considers herself a public servant.
After a two-year hiatus from the board, Trout said she decided to throw her hat back in the ring after hearing from parents she said were concerned about the district’s academic performance.
“I was always thinking about getting involved again in the community I belong to. I think I did a good job before, and I receive a lot of phone calls from parents that they would like me to run again. So of course, I would like to answer those phone calls,” Trout said.
To improve Canutillo ISD’s academic rating, Trout said she plans to support the superintendent while holding him accountable for the district’s performance.
“It’s very important first to have a talk with the superintendent and ask him, ‘What’s going on? Why are we not performing at the level that we should?’ Maybe the superintendent has some needs. But we have to remind the superintendents that they are the leaders of this. They are the ones who are steering the boat,” Trout said.
Though Trout was on the board when trustees voted to call for the 2024 bond election, she was absent from the meeting. She did not say whether she was in favor of the bond election at the time, but said she supports “what’s best for the students.”
“I didn’t vote that time. But now I see the campuses, and I see that it’s for students. I think it’s a good thing,” she added.
In 2022, Trout was censured by the board after she was accused of violating Texas election law prohibiting the use of school resources to promote political campaigns when she drove a truck with a banner bearing her name in a high school homecoming parade.
She was running as the Republican candidate for Precinct 4 on the El Paso County Commissioners Court. She lost to Sergio Coronado, who was also on the Canutillo ISD board at the time.
Breanne Barnes
Barnes, 39, was elected to the Canutillo ISD Board of Trustees in 2022. She holds a bachelor’s in early childhood education from the University of Texas at El Paso, according to the district’s website.
She did not respond to El Paso Matters’ request for an interview.
Barnes was the only trustee who voted against calling for the 2024 bond election after raising concerns about whether the district would be able to manage the debt.
Her campaign website says she plans to fight for “quality education and opportunities for all students, parental rights, transparency and accountability, wise spending of taxpayer money and to complete bond projects as promised.”
Barnes worked as an elementary school teacher for 11 years. During her previous school board campaign, she told El Paso Matters she resigned from her position teaching at a Canutillo Elementary School in 2021 over her dissatisfaction with COVID-19 quarantine policies for unvaccinated employees. Barnes said she pulled her child out of the district and enrolled her in private school.
A year prior, Barnes unsuccessfully attempted to remove the graphic novel “Gender Queer: A Memoir” from the Canutillo High School library. The novel, which illustrates the author’s journey of identifying as nonbinary and asexual, has been targeted by conservative groups for its depiction of LGBTQ identities and what they say is sexually explicit material.
Barnes told El Paso Matters in 2022 that her book challenge was not politically motivated and was ensuring the district complies with state laws and does not expose children to “pornographic” content.
Cindy Andrade Carrillo
Andrade Carrillo, formerly Cindy Zuniga, was elected to the Canutillo ISD school board in 2022. At the time, she told El Paso Matters she manages Tamales Lupita on Doniphan Drive, which is owned by her parents. The business is registered under Lidia Carrillo, according to El Paso County records.
She did not respond to El Paso Matters’ request for an interview.
Andrade Carrillo is being sued by the city of El Paso on behalf of other taxing entities over unpaid 2025 taxes, according to court records filed in late September. Records show she currently owes $7,800 in unpaid property taxes and fees for her home in Canutillo.
It is not the first time she’s faced this type of tax trouble.
In 2022, the city sued her for over $4,500 in unpaid taxes for the same property, court records show.
She was also sued by the state in 2018 over an undisclosed amount of unpaid sales tax over a six-month period in 2017. The suit was later dismissed after she complied with the tax assessor’s office.
Delinquent property taxes do not disqualify a school board candidate from becoming a trustee, according to Texas Secretary of State guidelines.
Guadalupe Montañez
Montañez, the former principal of Davenport Elementary School, said she was motivated to run after the Canutillo ISD board voted in May to terminate her contract following a child abuse investigation that led to the arrest of three employees assigned to a special education classroom.
“I’m running because I was put in a situation that I never thought that I’d be in,” Montañez, 52, told El Paso Matters.
“They’re stating that I knew something that I didn’t. They’re saying that I should have done something differently years ago. They’re trying to get rid of me for that. But in doing my investigative work, I found out that central office should have handled it before it was even brought to my campus, and I’m just being used as a scapegoat,” she added.
Canutillo ISD officials confirmed Montañez is technically on administrative leave. That’s because under Texas law, school district employees whose contracts are terminated before their term ends are allowed to appeal the decision. They’re still considered employees until the process is complete.
School employees are barred from serving on the board for the district that employs them. Montañez said she will resign if she wins the election.
Montañez said she wants to replace Borrego, whose administration recommended terminating her contract, with a new superintendent to improve the district’s academic performance.
She said she does not blame Borrego for the district’s academic performance, but was critical of the way he restructured central office and wanted someone who would offer more support to campuses.
“In terms of the feedback that I received from the districts, from the teachers, from everybody, I think it would be good to get somebody who is more in tune with the community and with the district,” Montañez said.
Pedro Galaviz
Galaviz, 59, last year retired from Canutillo ISD after serving as the superintendent for about 13 years, citing issues with the political climate around education and the management of the school board.
He said his passion for education, instilled by his immigrant background, and his desire to be a voice for the students of Canutillo motivated him to run for a spot on that same board.
“I got into the public school system because I wanted to be that voice for those silent voices,” Galaviz said. “I want to ensure that every Canutillo student has access to opportunities that can change the course of their life.”
If elected, Galaviz would help oversee and have a say on the salary and employment of the person who took his job after retiring.
Galaviz said his decisions involving the superintendent will depend on his performance.
“It’s all on him because the board holds the superintendent accountable, and then you take action and you take what is learned to inform the next cycle of direction. So, if the superintendent is getting results and is honest, then (he’s) good,” he said.
Canutillo ISD’s 2024 bond proposal was designed and approved while Galaviz was superintendent.
Galaviz was questioned and criticized for signing a contract to purchase a 51-acre horse farm to build a new middle school without board approval in 2024 – about six months after voters approved the bond. Galaviz maintained he mistakenly signed the contract under direction of his Realtor. The purchase contract was later ratified by the board. Construction of the school is expected to be completed in late 2027.
If elected, he said he would want to ensure “the district delivers what voters were promised within the financial and legal boundaries established.”
Galaviz said he knew the district did not have the capabilities of overseeing the bond construction on its own, so that is why he recommended contracting the Fort Worth-based company Procedeo.
“When this bond came out, the first thing I wanted was to hire a professional bond manager”, Galaviz said. “You trust the professionals. We govern the bond the way we govern the district. We don’t manage the construction.”
Ryan Escamilla
Escamilla, 40, grew up in El Paso’s Westside. He left his hometown for 15 years to serve in the Air Force and work in Austin. He returned to the region eight years ago to be closer to family.
Now as a resident of Canutillo, Escamilla said he wants to serve the community.
“Knowing how school districts affect property taxes and the stuff that goes into it, I kind of want to do something valuable in the community,” Escamilla said. “I want to step up and make a difference, and I feel that I have a good head on my shoulders. I feel I have the ability to make good, informed decisions.”
Escamilla said his main goals are to ensure the district’s spending is vetted and its budget is maintained to “avoid extra taxes going to the homeowners,” while ensuring students and teachers’ needs are being met.
“I would want to make sure that those two are the main priorities since everything revolves around money. We have to make sure that everything is properly funded, properly staffed, so they can take care of everyone in the district,” he added.
Escamilla said he would use the same approach he uses to manage his budget at home with the district, and make cuts in places where there may be overspending. He also noted he would support a tax increase if it was something the district needed.
“I have to see where all the bills are coming from, see if any of them are necessary, see if we are overspending on some, and then making a determination from that on how to balance your own personal budget,” he said.
Escamilla said he would want to get more information on what led to the district’s downgraded accountability rating before making any major decisions on how to address it.
“I’d have to gather, like a lot of information, and then make a determination from that on what needs to change, whether it has something to do with funding, teachers, materials, whatever it is,” he said.
Escamilla said he’s recently attended the Canutillo ISD’s meetings on the 2024 bond project. He noted the district seems to have a good grasp on the project, but would want to ensure projects are completed on time based on their contracts.
“I would be looking to make sure that timelines are still being met,” Escamilla said.
Sergio Martinez
Martinez has served as the Canutillo ISD board president for the last two years.
Because he was appointed to his seat, Martinez would have to run during the November election to keep his seat.
Instead of continuing his term, he said he chose to run for a new seat to avoid running against Mendoza.
“I realized that I would be running against a very competitive individual who has been elected several times, and that is Patsy Mendoza,” Martinez said. “I felt that if I was to run against her, more than likely I would come in second. So, I felt that my best interest would be to run for a four-year term.”
Martinez has a background in architecture and has taken part in several design projects throughout the county, including Canutillo High School.
Overseeing the 2024 bond, which was approved by a margin of just 13 votes, is the primary reason Martinez said he wants to be on the board.
“We finally passed it by a very few votes, which led me to believe that our community was not really satisfied with the way that district was moving forward,” Martinez said.
Martinez said he had hoped to help bring harmony among the trustees, who often have tense public disagreements on how the district should be run.
“I saw a lot of arguing within the board and with my naive eyes, I decided to join and see if I could bring them together somehow,” he said. “It’s been extremely difficult because we have very set ideas on both ends, so to speak. But I felt that I could make a difference.”
During his time on the board, Martinez said he has kept an eye on the bond project’s progress and visited construction sites with the superintendent.
“I tell the superintendent, ‘Based on this … it should be around 50% complete, 60% complete.’ I think the superintendent is listening and he’s been pushing everyone. I can almost bet my position that I think by the end of next year we will be completed 100% with our bond,” Martinez said.
In 2016, Martinez was convicted of assault causing bodily injury stemming from a 2013 arrest. He previously told El Paso Matters the arrest happened after a driver followed him and his family in his car to his work, leading to an altercation.
Court records show he served 10 days in jail and paid over $800 in fines.
“It was a learning experience more than anything,” Martinez said. “Did I go do it again? Well, no, that’s not my nature. People that know me know that I’m respectable.”
He recently retired from working at Tigua Inc., a consulting firm founded by the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo that specializes in national security and government projects.
Patsy Mendoza
Mendoza, 70, worked for Canutillo ISD for over 30 years before retiring in 2010. She served two four-year terms on the board from 2010 to 2014 and from 2020 to 2024.
She’s now looking to return to Canutillo ISD and serve the remaining two years of the unfinished term as a way to thank the district for providing her a livelihood, Mendoza said
“Canutillo helped me raise my children, and it helped me put them through school. So I am very grateful to Canutillo ISD. I look at running for the school board as a way of paying back,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said she plans to rely on the expertise of Canutillo ISD’s Curriculum and Instruction Division, which is in charge of developing the district’s academic programs, to ensure it improves its accountability rating.
“I think that the district has a very resourceful curriculum department, and I think they are the experts in bringing to the board their plan of action in remedying the situation,” Mendoza said.
“TEA has all the wherewithal with the measuring and the ratings. But I really think the administration is doing a very good job. I think they’re on the right track,” she added.
If elected, Mendoza said she would push for Canutillo ISD to offer more career technical education programs, such as cosmetology, to attract students from nearby districts.
Mendoza said it was a smart decision for the district to hire Procedeo to oversee the bond construction and plans to hold the company accountable for any delays or unforeseen expenses.
“I know that they have a whole process in which they approve expenditures. Like all buildings, there’s always a change that requires maybe more money that they didn’t anticipate when the budget was set. But I would want a full accounting from Procedeo on the rationale for the change in the construction and the amount of money that is needed,” she said.
Brandi Stevenson
An Army veteran, Stevenson, 44, was born in Maryland and came to El Paso roughly 10 years ago when she was stationed at Fort Bliss. She works at Canutillo ISD as an aide and said she would resign from the district if she’s elected.
Stevenson, a write-in candidate, said she is running for a position on the board to help ensure parents have a say in the district.
“I’m so sick of hearing parents complain about who’s on the board right now, and that they don’t get heard,” Stevenson said. “So, I was like, ‘I’ll go be your voice.’ I want to know why things are happening. I’ll play devil’s advocate all day long.”
Stevenson said she wants to learn more about the district’s budget and policies before making any major decisions on its tax rate or academic performance.
“I don’t know what the right answer is to make it more positive,” Stevenson said about the accountability rating. “I would love to read our policies and what the board already has in process to see what they think should be better before I even say, ‘Yes.’ This is what needs to happen because I’m seeing it from two different perspectives.”
The post Retired superintendent, ex-trustee, fired principal among Canutillo ISD school board candidates appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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