Dr. Pedro Galaviz is the Superintendent of the Canutillo Independent School District.
His District suffers from a $6 million budget deficit and faces layoffs and school closures, largely because of the incompetence of the Board of Trustees, which voted for employee raises without enough funding.
Meanwhile, the same District is going for a $387 million bond, mostly for new school construction. This will appear on the May 4 ballot for Canutillo ISD residents.
Yesterday Galaviz wrote an email to his constituents, telling them about all the wonderful things $387 million would buy and warning them:
“While everyone is entitled to their opinions, it is essential to question the motives behind certain narratives. Those who have never set foot in Canutillo, have no personal stake in our schools, and contribute nothing to our tax base may not be best equipped to weigh in on the future of our district. Their intentions may not always align with the best interests of our students and our community.”
First, we would remind Dr. Galaviz that he serves at the pleasure of the taxpayers and will not get the $387 million unless the voters trust him with it, and they have plenty of reason not to.
Second, we would inform him that every taxpayer in El Paso County has a stake in the bond debt of Canutillo ISD, because when the residents of Canutillo ISD are struggling to pay their property tax, it places financial stress on the County and other taxing entities that are supported not only by Canutillo ISD taxpayers, but also by El Paso County taxpayers at large.
Finally, we would suggest to him that there might be more individuals willing to move to Canutillo if its School District were better managed.
We are in favor of eliminating Canutillo ISD altogether, along with Anthony ISD, and turning over their assets to EPISD. In fact, we think that there should only be three school districts in El Paso County instead of nine: EPISD, Socorro ISD, and Ysleta ISD.