Motion to slash EPISD superintendent’s travel expense budget fails

A motion to slash the travel expenses of El Paso ISD Superintendent Juan Cabrera failed Wednesday night after a 3-3 tie, ABC-7 has confirmed with district officials.

The motion was introduced after the school district board’s finance committee compared the superintendent’s allotted expenses to other districts.

The El Paso Times reports Trustees Diane Dye, Bob Geske and Trent Hatch voting against the proposal to cut expenses. Trustees Susie Byrd, Chuck Taylor, and Al Velarde voted in favor of the proposal to the cut the travel expenses, per the Times.

A district spokesperson told ABC-7 a tie means the motion failed. The Times reports trustees agreed to table the item and discuss the matter in the future.

ABC-7 learned Cabrera took seven trips around the country in between July and August. The district’s board president said all trips served a purpose.

“The things that we’ve asked our school district is to lead the way when it comes to leadership. We’ve asked our superintendent to be heavily engaged. I can’t speak for the other districts, but I do know that we are pushing our superintendent to do more within the state, and nationally, to help EPISD be a leader in education,” said Board President Trent Hatch.

The proposal submitted to the board would have cut Cabrera’s current $60,000 dollar travel budget in half to around $30,000, still a much larger sum compared to neighboring districts.

ABC-7 learned the superintendent of the Socorro Independent School District, Jose Espinoza, spent $13,000 on travel expenses last year. Xavier De La Torre, the superintendent at the Ysleta Independent School District is allotted $12,000 for travel expenses.

Travel expense money unused by Cabrera goes back into the district’s general fund, Hatch said.