Final results: Canutillo ISD Trustees
Final results from the County of El Paso show the following four candidates with the most votes in the at-large district race:
Rachel M. Quintana 3,180 votes 17% Annette R. Brigham 2,703 votes 14% Armando Rodriguez 2,433 votes 13% Blanca Trout 2,183 votes 12%
DECISION 2011 BOND BACKGROUND
During the fall of 2011, the CISD voters approved the issuance of almost $44 million in bonds in support of the district’s need for upgrades and construction. The Bond Referendum, known as Decision 2011 (DC2011) provided funding for the construction of a Pre-K through fifth grade school named Congressman Silvestre & Carolina Reyes School, and for additions and upgrades across the District.
The passing of the Bond Issue triggered the creation of the Canutillo Bond Accountability Committee. This committee function is to assist the CISD Board and Superintendent by monitoring the plans, process and progress of the bond program and related construction projects. The formation of this committee was a pledge by the Board to stakeholders during the DC2011 School Bond information presentations held throughout the district.
DISTRICT CHALLENGES
One of the biggest challenges the district currently faces is a stagnant student population and a deficit budget. Officials said estimates shows the student population will remain at 6,000 for the next five years, along with a .04 population decline.
A study commissioned in summer of 2015 by the Jacobs Engineering Group and Dejong Richter, found that six elementary schools and two middle schools are running half-empty. Meanwhile, Canutillo High School is over capacity.
The Facilities Master Plan also showed that the district only had 8 percent student population growth since the 2006-07 school year.
The stagnant population poses a problem as the area is one of the fastest growing areas in El Paso. The significant development in the northwest section of the county could backfire on CISD.
A new hospital, retail area, and thousands of homes are being built, increasing property values from half-a-Billion to $2 Billion. That means the district can soon hit Chapter 41, where it’s considered a “property wealthy” district and under Texas Education Funding Law, must hand local tax dollars over to the state. If that happens, the district could be required to give up a big chunk of its tax revenue, for redistribution to property poor districts.
In August 2016, CISD approved its tax rate, set at $1.53 per $100-dollars of valuation. Even though the rate remained the same — property values went up so residents will be paying approximately $18 more than last year.
One challenge for the district is to add quality programs and improve the curriculum to attract more students.
In 2015, CISD introduced Project Lead The Way to attract more students. The STEM program is in its second year and is seen in the elementary, middle and high schools. PLTW provides a comprehensive approach to STEM education through hands-on activities and a rigorous curriculum.
Over the summer, CHS was recognized by the Texas Education Agency as a Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academy, one of 121 schools in the state of Texas.
The Canutillo ISD faces a $3.6 million budget deficit due to an increased contribution to employee health benefits and decreasing state allocations, officials said.
CONTROVERSIES
CISD came under media scrutiny in 2014 for spending $30,000 to attend a single conference in New Orleans, despite the district’s budget deficit. The board’s annual travel budget was $20,000 higher than any other local board’s, although it oversees one of the county’s smallest school districts at 6,000 students. El Paso ISD has 60,000, Ysleta ISD has 42,000, and Socorro ISD has 43,000.
In April 2015, ABC-7 uncovered the board approved a 75 percent increase to its travel budget, the highest for any school board in El Paso County.
Then Board President Laure Searls told ABC-7 the investment is justified because the board is well trained.
The board travel policy allows members to attend training and conventions hosted by groups such as the Texas Association of School Boards. It also allows them to travel to any conference that impact the operation of the district. CISD will pay for trips if a trustee has leadership roles in other school board associations, too.
Searls added the CISD board is in consistent lockstep with each other, that there’s no infighting and the board continually votes unanimously together. Searls said “that’s special.”
In Summer 2016, the board also came under scrutiny after it considered the possibility of hiring a $12,000 speaker for its convocation ceremony next year. The board discussed hiring Mrs. Consuelo Kickbusch as the 2017 Convocation guest speaker. She is a motivational speaker that has helped mentor students, parents and teachers for more than 50 years.
Current School Board President Stephanie Frietze said convocation is held every two years and usually two weeks before the school year starts. The goal is to get teachers and staff pumped up for the upcoming school year.
Frietza couldn’t say how much the district has spent in the past, but says she believes it’s an investment into staff that helps motivate students for the upcoming school year.
“Staff development is a huge thing at Canutillo, we spend $700-800,000 dollars a years so to say that we spend $12,000 for a speaker for our staff so I don’t think it’s excessive at all. I think we have to look at the return and who’s it affecting,” said CISD Board Vice-President, Adrian Medina
EPISD does their convocation ceremony via video conference with the superintendent in their own classroom, at zero cost.
YISD meanwhile, held their convocation ceremony at the Don Haskins Center this year, costing more than $28,000. But it didn’t cost the district a dime, because they got corporate sponsors to cover all costs.
In a statement, the district told ABC-7, “The purpose of our district’s convocation is to energize faculty and staff with a celebration of their accomplishments and encouragement for the coming school year. A nationally renowned speaker addressing our dedicated employees affords them an opportunity to be encouraged by a unique, captivating story of effective leadership and unyielding will. She will share her experiences and skill sets of making the impossible, possible. The District is working to get this event sponsored to reduce the expense. The cost will also be paid across two fiscal years since a convocation was not held this year.”
CANDIDATE INFORMATION
ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ
Rodriguez has served three terms on the CISD board of trustees. He previously served as secretary and vice president on the board before becoming president. He was elected to the board in 2002 at the age of 20, becoming the youngest-ever serving board member.
If re-elected, his four priorities will focus on: Kids First, School Communities, Transparency and Governance.
He is also involved on a variety of education boards in the State of Texas, including the Texas Association of School Boards where he serves as the Region 19, Position B representative on the Board of Directors, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, the National School Boards Association, the Mexican American School Board Association where he serves as President-Elect, and the former President of the Far West Texas School Board Association.
A proud graduate of Canutillo High and UT El Paso, Mr. Rodriguez is presently employed with Venegas Engineering Management and Construction (VEMAC).
In 2014, Rodriguez made headlines after becoming a vocal critic of HB 343, a state law that only applied to school board trustees in El Paso County. Under the law, trustees would have to disclose all financial income and disclosure documents to the county. Texas State Representative Marisa Marquez wrote the law to increase transparency and prevent corruption. If not, trustees could face fines or criminal charges.
Rep. Marquez’s law came after Rodriguez accused her of inappropriately promoting a lobbyist while she says the trustee is deflecting from the issue of school board transparency. Rep. Marquez denied the allegations.
Rodriguez complied with HB 343, but said the measure was wrong way to focus on fixing corruption in El Paso – especially because other trustees in the state weren’t required to do the same.
ADRIAN MEDINA
Adrian A. Medina is serving his first term on the Board of Trustees. A 1992 Canutillo graduate, Mr. Medina grew up in Canutillo.
Through the years he has been involved in various advisory committees in the district, including the District Advisory Council and the Community Bond Accountability Committee. His wife is currently a teacher at Canutillo Elementary School. They have a young daughter who attends Canutillo schools.
Medina attended the USC and works as a research director for KVIA channel 7 television.
Earlier this year in March, Medina was criticized by fellow trustees for placing a discussion on outsourcing on the board’s agenda.
Custodial employees saw the item and quickly complained, thinking the discussion meant there would be potential layoffs.
Medina said he believed outsourcing could save the district money. He pointed to the decision to outsource the district’s food service management to an outside company. That in turn allowed them to get quality food at a competitive price. By by outsourcing management, that didn’t mean there would be layoffs.
It just meant the district brought in an outside company. Medina wanted to discuss the same concept for the custodial department.
At the time, Medina told ABC-7, “We have $3.6 million that we have to make up. The state can come in here anytime if we don’t balance that budget. We have consecutive budgets of not being balanced. They can actually come in and take over the district. So there’s a lot of things at play here. All people think about was I’m going to lose my job, which was never, ever a part of the discussion. I was just looking at all possible things. If we’re talking about closing schools, or outsourcing staff, we got to put everything out there.”
No action was taken on the item.
RACHEL QUINTANA
Rachel Mendoza Quintana is serving her second term as a trustee for Canutillo ISD. Mrs. Quintana was elected Secretary for the Board in 2008 upon taking the office of trustee. She attended Canutillo High School and has more than 29 years experience working in the front office of both campuses and administrative offices at Canutillo ISD and currently at Anthony Independent School District.
Mrs. Quintana is married and has five children that have attended CISD schools. Her support focuses on students and staff as she leads this dynamic team of eight.
ANNETTE BRIGHAM
Brigham is no stranger to the Canutillo district. She had been with there for 25 years before retiring. In 2012, she was named the interim superintendent after the previous, Damon Murphy, was forced to resign after the results of an internal audit. The audit revealed an alleged cheating scam.
While he was the EPISD associate superintendent, Murphy allegedly gave marching orders to district principals to prevent certain students from advancing to the 10th grade, the year the TAKS Test is administered. Murphy is currently awaiting trial in federal court after being charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He and five other EPISD administrators have a court date of February 15, 2017.
From November 2012 until February 2016, she served as the associate superintendent. Before that she served as the executive director of school resources for the district, and was a principal for 10 years prior to that.
She now works with Professional Service Provider Texas. She works with building and district administrators to meet the needs of struggling students.
Brigham received her MA in Education from Texas A&M, and her BS in Computer Science from UTEP.
In 2014, Brigham was accused of interfering with an internal audit. This happened after the district was trying find out what happened to missing fundraiser money from Canutillo Elementary School’s spring festival in May 2013.
Board Trustee Armando Rodriguez accused Brigham of tipping off Canutillo Elementary’s business manager of a site visit being conducted by internal auditors. When those auditors arrived, the only two people capable of opening the school safe, the principal and the school’s business manager, were allegedly gone. It wasn’t until the following day the safe was opened and $4,000 were allegedly found inside.
The school’s principal and office manager quit one month after the auditors’ visit. The internal audit said Brigham gave a recommendation for ex-principal Connie Parker to get a job out of state. Brigham also considered herself a mentor to the former principal.
The associate superintendent’s judgment to give a recommendation after the allegations of misconduct was questioned by the internal auditor.
The district investigator found the accusation to be hearsay, and couldn’t find phone records of the call in question. No wrongdoing by Brigham was found, but recommendations were given towards improving district policies.
DION DORADO
Dorado is a Texas licensed Private Investigator. He got his Degree in Criminal Justice and certifications and licenses in the civil and criminal fields.
In 2013, Dorado ran the race for justice of the peace, precinct #7. He was beat by Republican Bruce King.
BLANCA TROUT
Trout was previously on the Steering Committee for the 2015-2016 Facilities Master Plan for CISD.
She is also a NAMI Basics teacher. The National Alliance on Mental Illness in El Paso (NAMI El Paso) is a grassroots, non-profit organization. Its mission is to advocate at all levels to ensure that persons affected by mental illness recieve services they need and deserve, in a timely fashion.
CAMILO A. AYUB
Ayub is a parent at the district.
JAMES TIDWELL
Tidwell is the owner president of the Truetemps Staffing Group and a Professor at Webster University. He is a Canutillo alumni and holds an MBA from UTEP.
He says if elected, his focus would be on STEM development. He says current industries are no longer manufacturing opportunities and require an educated workforce. He wants to make sure CISD is on the right path.
ALFONSO “AL” FLORES JR.
Flores Jr. Is the director of facilities maintenance at NMSU. Prior to that, he was the project manager in Project Development and Engineering at the school.
LYNN A. MCPHATTER
McPhatter is the owner of Fiori the Flower Studio located on Doniphan.
