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James Vasquez named sole finalist for Socorro ISD superintendent [1]

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Date: 2025-06-24

The Socorro Independent School District Board of Trustees named James Vasquez, who serves as acting superintendent, as the sole finalist to be the district’s next superintendent Tuesday.

The board voted unanimously to name Vasquez as the lone finalist for the job, before moving on to discuss whether it would approve a budget with expenses that don’t exceed its revenue for the first time since 2015.

“If you told me when I first started teaching in this district back in 1995 that, 30 years later, I would be the superintendent, I never would have believed you,” Vasquez said. “I’m just truly humbled and honored by the confidence placed in me by the board to lead the district, especially during these challenging times.”

After a 21-day period, the board will meet again to approve a contract and officially hire Vasquez as the superintendent, Daniel Escobar, the district’s chief communications officer, told El Paso Matters.

James Vasquez, Socorro ISD’s Acting Superintendent, thanks the Board of Trustees for their support after he is named the lone finalist for the permanent superintendent position, June 24, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

Also Tuesday, the board voted unanimously to approve a $454.2 million general fund budget with a $492,700 surplus, which the district will use to cover the cost of operating the SISD Aquatics Center.

Trustees also voted 5-2 to approve a new compensation plan that would give SISD employees a raise for the first time since 2022.

Trustees Ryan Woodcraft and Marivel Macias voted in opposition after questioning a 1% raise for administrators and a compression adjustment that is not required under state law.

While the board was scheduled to decide whether to close the district’s employee clinic and move the services to a University Medical Center of El Paso clinic, the vote was postponed until July to give trustees a chance to review the agreement.

The new budget will be implemented by Vasquez, who was appointed interim superintendent in April 2024, after former Superintendent Nate Carman, who was set to leave the district for a new job, was placed on paid leave after an audit found he awarded contracts to a company he had previously done business with before joining the district in 2022. Carman denied wrongdoing.

Trustees lauded Vasquez for the improvements they have seen at SISD in his time as acting superintendent.

“Mr. Vasquez is the right leader at the right time,” said board President Michael Najera. “Through the struggles, what I can say is Mr. Vasquez has put us on the right path.”

Socorro ISD Board of Trustees President Michael Najera says that James Vasquez showed outstanding leadership in his 14 months as acting superintendent and appealed to the Socorro community as a local candidate for the permanent superintendent position, June 24, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

“In Mr. Vasquez, we see that we get both the best (and someone) local. Someone who is part of the community, someone who’s committed to the community, and someone certainly, who has earned the community’s trust,” Najera added.

Vasquez said he initially didn’t want the job, but changed his mind after he saw notable improvements in the district.

“We’re moving in the right direction, and we’ve made significant progress, but the work is not done yet, and I just wanted the opportunity to finish the job. Most importantly, I just love the district, and I love the people in this district,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez will lead the district at a challenging time, as it deals with declining enrollment and attempts to rebuild its reserves following years of continuous growth and overspending.

Vasquez will continue to work with two Texas Education Agency conservators, who were appointed in April 2024 to manage SISD after a state investigation found a trustee failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest with a vendor, and that the district improperly graduated students and paid out unauthorized stipends.

Michael Hinojosa, one of the conservators appointed by the Texas Education Agency to Socorro ISD in 2024, congratulates James Vasquez on his nomination as the sole finalist for superintendent, saying that the district has made significant progress under Vasquez’s leadership during the past year, June 24, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

He will also see the outcomes 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. After the district made staffing formula changes and moved employees who were set to be laid off to vacant positions, less than 25 employees lost their jobs.

The 2025-26 budget details

Under the compensation plan, presented to the board earlier this month, teachers with three to four years of experience will get a $2,500 raise and those with five or more years will get a $5,000 raise, which is required and funded under a House Bill 2, a public school funding bill recently approved by the Texas Legislature.

Teachers with two or fewer years of experience would get a step increase and non-classroom teachers, nurses and librarians will also get a 1.5% raise.

District administrators will also get a 1% raise or a compression adjustment between the teacher and administrative pay scale, though they are not required under HB 2.

Under the plan, the district will offer $5,000 stipends to newly hired school psychologists and $2,500 stipends to teachers with more than 25 students in their class. It will also increase the stipend for special education teachers in the behavior intervention unit from $2,000 to $3,000.

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The proposed budget is 5% lower than the current school year’s $479.6 million budget, which was approved June 2024.

James Vasquez, Socorro ISD’s Acting Superintendent, thanks the Board of Trustees for their support after he is named the lone finalist for the permanent superintendent position, June 24, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)

The board also approved a debt services fund with a $7 million surplus, which can only be spent on bond projects. SISD Chief Financial Officer David Solis said the surplus will be used to pay a defeasance and reduce its bond debt.

Although the district has a balanced budget, Solis said the district will need to find new revenue sources and potentially make difficult decisions to improve the district’s financial stability.

“The district still faces several serious challenges, including inflation, aging buildings, deferred maintenance needs and the replacement of student devices that were purchased during the pandemic and are now nearing the end of their useful life. One of the most urgent financial concerns is improving the district’s cash flow and rebuilding its fund balance,” Solis said.

As of April 30, SISD had about $26 million in reserves, according to a financial report posted on the meeting agenda.

In December, SISD revealed its reserves had dipped below the district’s standards in 2024 when it had $50.4 million, or enough to keep the district running for 33 days.

SISD policy requires the district to have enough to keep the district afloat for 75 days. Texas school districts also need to have enough to keep running for at least 75 days to get an A in the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas.

SISD previously considered closing its aquatic center, which is open to the public, but decided to keep it open after backlash from the community.

The center is estimated to cost $692,700 to operate next school year, but will only bring in $200,000 in revenue. The district will use its surplus to cover the additional costs.

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[1] Url: https://elpasomatters.org/2025/06/24/sisd-superintendent-appointment-james-vasquez-school-district-budget/

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