'I feel like I've come full circle': EPISD superintendent back to border roots

At community meetings this year, students, parents and teachers made it clear they had new expectations for El Paso Independent School District's next superintendent.

They wanted change in key areas: They called for a local with educator experience, someone familiar with life along the U.S.-Mexico border and its challenges, who speaks Spanish, and is Hispanic or a woman.

Diana Sayavedra checked nearly all of the boxes, except one. She's not from El Paso.

Minutes after signing her employment contract, Sayavedra spoke about her roots in her first public address as the superintendent at a packed community reception.

"I'll tell you, I started my teaching career in Laredo, Texas. That's where I grew up," she said. "I've worked in education for 30 years now and every experience I've had across the state, I truly believe those experiences have prepared me for this moment in time.

"I feel like I'm coming to a community that mirrors the community that I grew up in, and where I started my career. I feel like I've come full circle, so I feel very honored and connected already to the community of El Paso," she said.

More: EPISD school board officially hires Diana Sayavedra as new superintendent

District 3 trustee Josh Acevedo said Sayavedra's trajectory from her immigrant roots in Laredo to overseeing the largest school district in El Paso will be an asset to the district.

"What I really like is her story," Acevedo said. "Her parents are immigrants, she speaks Spanish, so that's something that's really going to change the narrative here at EPISD now."

There was excitement earlier in the room, filled with people when trustees were in closed session finalizing their decision to hire Sayavedra.

After trustees voted unanimously to approve her employment, with one trustee absent from the vote, Sayavedra and board President Al Velarde signed her employment contract.

She was offered an annual salary of $277,000, and she will not be permitted to do consulting work or have employment outside the superintendent's regular duties, according to her employment contract.

Sayavedra asked each of her family members present to stand and be recognized. She called on her father, daughter, brother, nephew, best friend and spoke a few words for her late mother.

"I would be remiss if I didn't share with everyone just how much my family means to me," Sayavedra said. "I would like my family to stand, be recognized, and I'd like to introduce them. They did come here to support me in all things that I do."

Sayavedra called her father her role model for teaching her three things: to live with integrity, never to forget where she came from, and to make sure to give 100% to everything she does.

During the welcome reception, District 5 trustee Israel Irrobali said Sayavedra would be an inspiring figure herself, particularly to young women like his own daughter.

"She's a great role model for staff within the EPISD, and I have a daughter, so she's a great role model for her as well," Irrobali said.

Irrobali, one of three new board trustees elected in May, said he looks forward to how Sayavedra will use her background in curriculum and instruction to help the district's more than 50,000 students make progress tackling learning loss.

"We have somebody we can look to, to provide leadership, to address the major issues that we have as far as COVID-19 goes, COVID-19 protocols, learning loss," Irrobali said.

"She cares about the kids and she's going to implement a strong strategy. She's also extremely competent and strong in curriculum and instruction, which is going to be the solution outside this COVID-19 fiasco."

Democratic state Rep. Lina Ortega of District 77, which covers El Paso, attended the welcome reception for Sayavedra and said in a statement that she felt positive about the district's decision to hire its first Latina superintendent.

More: 'Breaking a glass ceiling': EPISD board selects Diana Sayavedra as superintendent finalist

"She is the district's first women hire and she is from a border community. She understands the unique challenges and opportunities faced by border districts," Ortega said.

Acevedo said Sayavedra's good record of managing academic programs for other school districts would be an asset in how she leads the EPISD.

Sayavedra was Fort Bend ISD's chief academics officer and previously served as director, then executive director, of the curriculum and instruction department at Pflugerville ISD.

"She had an audit done on her academics, and it was some of the best academics the auditor had ever seen, so she brings that to the table and I think we really need that," Acevedo said.

"The other thing is communication. She is really open to communicating — and then her leadership. I think she's well spoken and is really engaging the community from day one."

Acevedo said previously that Sayavedra could visit with district employees at some point in December, possibly more than once. District spokesperson Gustavo Reveles Acosta said no set dates for her visits have been set.

Sayavedra's start date is Jan. 4.

More: EPISD board finalizes superintendent contract, groups want next leader focused on the job

Cristina Carreon may be reached at ccarreon@elpasotimes.com and @Cris_carreon90 on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: New EPISD superintendent Diana Sayavedra returns to border roots