EPISD Superintendent Diana Sayavedra to remain on job – for now – after board takes no action

Diana Sayavedra, El Paso ISD’s superintendent since 2022, faces a board majority that has been critical of some of her actions.

El Paso Independent School District Superintendent Diana Sayavedra will keep her job – for now – after a bitterly divided school board took no action on her contract following a three-hour long, closed-door discussion Tuesday.

Savayedra sat expressionless when the board returned to open session and board President Leah Hanany attempted to abruptly end the meeting without allowing for comments from trustees. Trustee Daniel Call interjected and accused Hanany of playing politics by pushing for Sayavedra’s removal.

Call accused Hanany of encouraging the board to hire her previous employer, Marlin Independent School District Superintendent Darryl Henson, back in 2021 when Sayavedra was hired.

“That was not just a lapse in judgment. Any logical person could see that as a deliberate concealment of a clear conflict of interest. In summary, she tried to install her own boss and friend as superintendent of EPISD. That was a breathtaking breach of public trust,” Call said.

Call said he was deliberately violating a non-disclosure agreement that prevented board members from publicly discussing the search.

Hanany refuted Call’s claims.

“It’s very unfortunate that trustee Call is lying tonight,” Hanany said. “The issue is that (with) many of these attacks, I’m bound by a non-disclosure agreement, which I have so far refused to violate. … I think that is what makes this very political, is that there is no defense for me and the people that continue to repeat this know that.”

Sayavedra, who was seated next to Hanany, did not speak during the meeting.

Although the board took no action on the superintendent’s contract, Sayavedra’s future with the district remains unclear.

“I will say that if the majority of the board felt like they wanted to terminate the superintendent, it would have happened,” Call said after the meeting.” 

“It seems like, for now, there was no action. That could change in the future,” he said.

Call was the only trustee to speak to the media after the meeting. He said he couldn’t discuss what was said in the closed session.

The board opened the meeting by voting 4-2 to contract with O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo Attorneys at Law for legal services to the board regarding Sayavedra’s contract. Hanany, along with Alex Cuellar, Jack Loveridge and Robert Osterland, voted in favor of the measure while Call and Valerie Beals voted against. Trustee Mindy Sutton, who was elected May 3, abstained from the vote.

Throughout the meeting, community members in support of Sayavedra questioned why her employment was being reconsidered and why the board is looking to hire a new attorney.

“With EPISD facing a budget shortfall, the reopening of Lamar and the lack of public disclosure into any wrongdoing by the superintendent. I don’t understand how, in good conscience, you can appropriate money to an outside law firm in order to determine whether Superintendent Sayavedra can legally be released from her contract. I urge you to reconsider the decision to hire an outside law firm to handle the possibility of releasing our superintendent,” Karen Galanter, a district librarian, said during the meeting’s public comment period.

One speaker, Diana Ramirez, an EPISD parent who has been critical of Sayavedra and spearheaded the Save Our Schools Coalition that fought against school closures, spoke in support of the newly elected trustees.

“The election was a referendum on the policies and actions of EPISD and the previous board. The people have spoken, and they want EPISD to do better. You do have a mandate from your community,” Ramirez said. “You must now deliver on your campaign promises to your community and take our school district in a new direction.”

Ramirez told El Paso Matters that she was unaware that Sayavedra’s employment would be on the table, but felt the culture at EPISD needs to change.

Some trustees questioned why the board is considering contracting the O’Hanlon firm, which has offices across Texas but not in El Paso,  instead of using its current attorneys. Critics also asked why the district did not go through a bidding process to hire a law firm.

EPISD’s general counsel, Cezy Collins, said she is unable to participate in work related to the superintendent’s employment because she serves at the pleasure of the superintendent. She said the district has worked with the O’Hanlon firm for specific purposes in the past. 

“I’m hired and fired by the superintendent. So, there is somewhat of an inherent conflict if you were to use me as counsel for something dealing with the superintendent’s contract, and I’ve made that clear over the years, and have not participated in those discussions,” Collins said.

The meeting comes just weeks after two of the four board members who supported Sayavedra lost their seats in the May 3 election, bringing major changes to a board that was divided over the superintendent’s recommendation to close eight elementary schools in response to declining enrollment.

Hanany and other board members who opposed the process used to close elementary schools and improve the ones that remained open — known as Destination District Redesign — have been critical of the metrics used to decide which campuses to shut down.

Since taking office, the 5-2 board majority voted to keep Lamar Elementary School open, reversing a previous board decision, and to limit Sayavedra’s ability to hire top administrators and high school principals without board approval.

Sayavedra was selected to serve as EPISD’s superintendent in late 2021 and started the job in January 2022. The previous school board voted last year to extend her contract through Jan. 25, 2029, with a $320,000 a year salary. 

State law limits schools to paying one year of salary and benefits to a superintendent removed before the expiration of his or her contract, or risk paying a penalty for anything over that amount.

Sayavedra’s time with the district has been met with both praise and controversy.

She oversaw the opening of the county’s first public Montessori school, recommended forgoing employee pay raises to address a budget deficit, two years after pushing for one of the largest teacher pay raises in 2022.

Her administration brought forward a contentious plan to “redesign” Canyon Hills Middle School, which required teachers to reapply and interview for their positions if they wanted to stay there.