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Superintendent Diana Sayavedra and her team managed to narrow the EPISD budget deficit for FY 2026 from $30.6 million to $6 million by cutting spending, streamlining the administration, and closing underenrolled schools, and without laying off a single teacher.
Nevertheless, Trustees Hanany, Loveridge, Cuellar and Sutton voted to fire her without cause on June 3 even though she was the district’s most brilliant Superintendent in more than 20 years.
Sayavedra presided over her final budget workshop June 12, only three days before she was replaced by Martha Aguirre, the Chief Financial Officer, remaining just long enough to save EPISD from fiscal calamity.
But now Leah Hanany, who has the financial acumen of a can of root beer and who led the effort to fire Sayavedra, is taking credit for her achievement, telling KVIA that “the district did a lot of work” to bring down the deficit. She also stated that if “we employ additional austerity measures” the deficit could narrow further.
Let us be clear, Leah.
You and your woke colleagues on the Board had nothing to do with narrowing the budget deficit. In fact, you, Loveridge and Cuellar voted against closing eight EPISD schools on November 20, 2024, but you were outvoted.
Then on May 20, you voted to keep Lamar Elementary open, defying all common sense and costing the district an additional $3.2 million per year for the benefit of only 206 students.
If you had your way and the other seven schools remained open, the budget deficit for FY 2026 would have been $18 million, triple the current figure.
You should publicly thank Sayavedra for saving EPISD from oblivion and tell the public exactly why you fired her instead of pretending that she retired voluntarily, then you should resign your position and go work for Escobar or Beto.
EPISD RELEASES STATEMENT ABOUT THE TERMINATION OF CARY WESTIN
Today, the Ministry of Truth at EPISD sent us this statement regarding the early termination of their business consultant, (Ret) Col. Cary Westin:
“El Paso ISD entered into a consulting partnership with Cary Westin; the partnership has concluded. We remain committed to constantly evaluating our partnerships and programs to ensure efficient deployment of the district’s resources. We are grateful to all our partners for their support of the district’s continued efforts to serve the best interests of our students and community.”
Westin was terminated only 13 days before his contract was set to expire, so it is dishonest to claim that “the partnership has concluded.”
The statement also implies that hiring Westin, the finest public administrator and financial manager within a radius of 300 miles, was not an “efficient deployment of the district’s resources!”
The Interim Superintendent, Martha Aguirre, is refusing to respond to our questions, which leads us to believe that she is the one who fired Westin, almost certainly at the behest of Comrade Hanany.
We just hate it when mediocrity triumphs.
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