This is your weekly news roundup, which takes a quick look at some developments in government, politics, education, environment and other topics across El Paso.
Ysleta ISD Renames César Chávez Academy
The Ysleta Independent School District Board of Trustees voted 6-1 Wednesday to rename César Chávez Academy to the Academy.
The YISD board began discussing the possibility of renaming the school located at 7814 Alameda Ave. in the Lower Valley after reports that the titular civil rights activist faced allegations of sexual abuse from two women who were teens at the time of the incidents.
Trustee Sean Haggerty voted against the resolution, arguing the school should be named after another important Hispanic figure in history.
“Renaming the campus to the Academy doesn’t honor anyone. In my opinion, it erases the community. Our district serves numerous families who have deep Mexican American roots, and there is no shortage of people with that same heritage who are worth putting on our building,” Haggerty said during the meeting.
The district has previously discussed plans to close the academy and consolidate it in 2027 with its other alternative school, Thrive Academy, 525 Greggerson Drive, about 5 miles away.
YISD Superintendent Xavier De La Torre said both the Academy and Thrive Academy will continue to operate as their own individual programs, but will be on the same campus.
De La Torre said the generic name will also allow the board to rename the program in the future without much pushback from the community.
“You can look at the Academy as, at the very least, a placeholder for a period of time while we get that program established under its own name, even though they do share a campus,” De La Torre said.
Socorro ISD Receives Over 400 Applications for Virtual Academy Pilot
The Socorro Independent School District has received over 400 applications for its virtual academy pilot program, which will allow up to 50 of its high school students to take classes online from home.
SISD Superintendent James Vasquez told El Paso Matters the students selected to take part in the program will begin taking virtual classes in January.
Vasquez said the district plans to collect data during the pilot process in the hopes of eventually expanding it to its own campus, known as the Socorro Virtual Academy, by the 2028-29 school year.
“We look to grow beyond the initial 50 students that we’ll accept and possibly expand to middle school. But for right now, we want to stick with the high school,” Vasquez said.
The SISD school board voted Sept. 15 to approve the Socorro Virtual Academy Pilot Program.
The pilot program is open to both current and prospective students in grades nine through 12.
To participate, students must meet the district’s attendance requirements to receive credit, be in good academic standing and must have passed the state’s required standardized tests the previous school year.
Vasquez said the district may expand the academy to serve students who struggle with traditional schooling, military families who may need to move due to deployment and as an alternative to homeschooling.
“We know there’s a lot of parents out there who are maybe wanting to opt for homeschooling their kids or doing virtual school, and this is just another option for them to be able to stay with us,” Vasquez said.
He noted it could also help the district boost funding, which is tied to student enrollment and attendance.
“Funding is the same for virtual students as for other students. And with declining enrollment, this is just another way to maintain our current enrollment and possibly grow it,” Vasquez said.
County Hosts Future El Paso Voter Day
The El Paso County Elections Department is encouraging parents to bring their children with them to the polls Saturday, Oct. 24, to “show them how easy and important it is to vote.”
Children younger than 18 will receive a pack of goodies, including a “future voter” sticker. Sophia Salas, a fourth-grade student at Coach Wally Hartley PK-8 School, designed the winning sticker art.
The child must be present with the parent voting. Election packs will be available at all early voting locations while supplies last.
Visit www.elpasocountyvotestx.gov to find a voting site, hours of operation and wait times.
Trump Endorsements Exclude El Paso Congressional Candidate Adam Bauman, List Brandon Herrera
President Donald Trump on Truth Social this week endorsed a slew of Republicans for office in Texas – excluding former Border Patrol agent Adam Bauman, the GOP nominee for El Paso’s Congressional District 16.
Bauman, 50, a Navy veteran, is facing four-term Democratic incumbent Veronica Escobar, 57, in this year’s midterms. Bauman didn’t respond to requests for comment from El Paso Matters.
Among those listed for endorsement is firearms manufacturer and YouTube personality Brandon Herrera in District 23, which covers a portion of El Paso’s Lower Valley and East Montana.
ELECTION 2026 VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the Nov. 3 general elections in El Paso
“TO THE GREAT PEOPLE OF TEXAS, GET OUT AND VOTE FOR,” Trump posted Wednesday night – one of several state-by-state posts listing Republican candidates in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. “These Great Patriots have my Complete and Total Endorsement — They will never let you down!”
The post also excluded GOP candidates in seven other Congressional districts.
The endorsement list included Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate, Greg Abbott for governor and Dan Patrick for lieutenant governor, among others.
Launched in 2022, Truth Social is owned by Trump Media and Technology Group Corp., a company majority-owned by Trump.
NSF Awards $3 Million to UTEP-led Team to Study STEM Paths for Low-Income Students
The National Science Foundation has approved almost $3 million for a University of Texas at El Paso-led team to research ways to enhance paths for low-income students to pursue graduate degrees in STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The collaborative, S-STEM Hub: Translating Undergraduate Success into Graduate Opportunity, will investigate conditions at institutions where students conduct research to find best practices.
The team’s principal investigator is Jesús Cisneros, professor and chair of UTEP’s Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations. The co-PI is Azuri González , executive director of UTEP’s Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities. Among the HSRU’s goals are to merge research-intensive universities to expand educational pathways, and grow the STEM workforce.
The other co-PIs are Assata Zerai, professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of New Mexico; Igor Paprotny, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago; and Vanessa E. Woods, associate teaching professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Cisneros called the S-STEM hub, which involves research-intensive investigators, “an unprecedented opportunity.”
The team members bring expertise in STEM education, higher education, institutional transformation, interdisciplinary research, and collaborative network development.
The S-STEM hub’s five-year mission is to explore how institutional practices, organizational environments and undergraduate experiences influence ambitions and readiness for graduate school. This will involve the study of advising, mentoring, undergraduate research and other student support approaches that mold STEM pathways.
Additional goals include building institutional research capabilities, and creating practices that can be duplicated at colleges and universities across the country.
The team plans to share its findings through conferences and scholarly publications, and by developing a national learning community focused on enhancing graduate STEM opportunities for low-income students.
The post YISD renames César Chávez Academy, SISD draws 400-plus applicants for virtual school pilot appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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