El Paso ISD board accepts superintendents separation agreement, names CFO interim

The El Paso Independent School District Board of Trustees on June 3 approved a voluntary separation agreement that will reassign Superintendent Diana Saavedra to the title of superintendent emeritus from June 15, 2025, until her retirement on Jan. 30, 2026, and later appointed Chief Financial Officer Martha Aguirre as interim superintendent effective June 16, 2025.

The board voted to accept the separation agreement after a closed-session discussion; a trustee announced the motion passed by a 4-2-1 vote. Trustees then moved and approved the interim appointment; the board recorded the appointment as passing with five votes in favor and abstentions recorded by trustees for the public record.

The decisions came after more than two hours of public comment that filled the meeting room despite an earlier-scheduled 4 p.m. start time. Dozens of speakers — teachers, principals, students and community members — addressed the board. The comments were overwhelmingly in support of Saavedra and criticized the timing and transparency of the process. Rosanna Quintela, a Douglas Elementary librarian, told the board, "She stood up, stood out, and stood in front of all of us to save our district." Several speakers used similar language to call for stability and to ask trustees to allow an existing performance review scheduled for mid-June to proceed.

Why it matters: Speakers repeatedly said Saavedra led difficult budget and closure decisions and that firing her would disrupt work underway to stabilize district finances and improve…