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SISD board votes to lay off 43 teachers [1]
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Date: 2025-05-05
Editor’s Note: 10 pm April 5: This story has been updated to correct the attribution in quotes from district leaders to Interim Superintendent James Vasquez and to clarify the number of employees who resigned.
Forty-three Socorro Independent School District teachers will be out of a job this summer after the school board on Monday took several 3-2 votes to not renew their contracts for the coming school year.
“I want you to know, personally, what will happen when you terminate my contract. I will likely lose my house. I will lose my health insurance and the medications I need. We’ll have to move elsewhere to find work,” Puentes Middle School art teacher Elizabeth Genova told board members before their vote. “All of this will be through no fault of my own.”
The votes, grouped by teacher categories, came after a brief closed-door discussion. Trustees Paul Guerra and Marivel Macias voted against motions to approve the recommended layoffs. Trustees Pablo Barrera and Richard Castellano, who’ve been absent from their duties since June, didn’t attend the meeting.
The board votes mark the final phase of a plan that called for up to 300 employees to be laid off in an effort to reduce the district’s budget by $38 million.
The district will save about $30 million in personnel costs through the layoffs and resignations, SISD Interim Superintendent James Vasquez said during a news conference following the meeting.
Vasquez said the district hopes it will not have to lay off more employees in the future, but said the district still needs to build up its now depleted savings.
“We want to make sure we adopt a balanced budget for this year. But on the other hand, we also have to bolster our cash position,” Vasquez said. “We’re hoping, through natural attrition, that we can accomplish that. We foresee this being a multi-year process. … But I don’t foresee layoffs in the future.”
Among the 43 teachers whose contracts SISD administrators recommended not be renewed are those in fine arts, math, English, science and social studies teachers, as well as career and technical education program instructors, according to the meeting agenda. A handful of them are teachers on probationary contracts.
No administrative positions were recommended for non-renewal, and no central office employees were laid off.
The contracts of two additional probationary teachers were not renewed, but district administrators said those were not part of the reduction in force and were let go for other reasons.
The district had offered a $2,500 incentive for employees to resign or retire to reduce the number of layoffs. District officials also said they would try to move qualified employees to open positions within the district and offered to reimburse the cost of training to get certified to teach in areas of high need, such as special education.
More than 170 employees were identified for a reduction in force, Interim Chief Human Resources Officer Celina Stiles said. Of those, more than 110 moved to other positions within the district and fewer than 20 resigned.
In total, nearly 230 employees submitted resignation notices – the vast majority effective at the end of their contracts in June. Others resigned effective in April and a few will remain through July.
Vasquez said 116 employees resigned by the deadline to receive the $2,500 incentive, though they had only promised it to the first 100. He said the district will see if it can give the additional 16 employees the incentive.
District officials looked at employees’ certifications, job performance, tenure and other factors to decide who to recommend to be laid off, Stiles said.
Veronica Hernandez, center, president of Socorro AFT, listens to an update on the Socorro ISD’s reduction in force efforts during a board meeting, May 5, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)
Socorro American Federation of Teachers President Veronica Hernandez said the organization has helped eight of its members get certifications in areas of high need. In total, about 10 SISD employees were able to keep their job by getting training.
Najera said the teachers who have been laid off may still be able to keep their jobs if they get the needed certifications. They will not need to reapply while they are still employed by the district.
While the district will save $30 million in future payroll costs through the reduction in force, the board Monday approved borrowing millions to bridge the gap while the district waits to receive revenue from the state and collects local property taxes.
Trustees unanimously voted to issue a $35 million tax and revenue anticipation note – a form of a short-term debt that doesn’t require voter approval. The district took out a $25 million loan in November to cover its payroll costs over three months.
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https://elpasomatters.org/2025/05/05/sisd-layoffs-board-meeting-teacher-contract-non-renewal/
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