Texas superintendent who ‘started a fight by drunkenly head-butting a fellow superintendent’ at Whataburger restaurant during an educators conference in June is suspended for just three days without pay from $314,000 a year job
- Ysleta Interdependent School District superintendent Xavier De La Torre, was suspended for three days without pay on July 30
- He was suspended for allegedly drunkenly headbutting Socorro Independent School District superintendent Jose Espinoza on June 13
- The two were at a San Antonio Whataburger restaurant with other educators for a teacher training conference when the fight broke out
- De La Torre allegedly asked Espinoza ‘Where are you coming from? Soccer practice?’ then headbutted him in the face
- Espinoza then pushed him back, sending him to the ground
- Both men were detained at the scene and De La Torre was escorted home
- Both of their districts run in El Paso, Texas
- The heavily redacted police report said De La Torre was drunk
- De La Torre denies being the aggressor and headbutting anyone, but Espinoza says the police report was accurate
- No charges were filed in the incident
A Texas superintendent has been temporarily suspended for drunkenly head-butting another superintendent at a burger restaurant during an educators training conference, cops say.
Xavier De La Torre, the Ysleta Interdependent School District superintendent, got into an alleged fight with Jose Espinoza, the superintendent for the Socorro Independent School District, during a meal at Whataburger restaurant on June 13.
They were at the restaurant in San Antonio with other educators during a training conference led by the Texas Association of School Boards. Both of their districts run in El Paso.
The alleged fight transpired after De La Torre asked Espinoza ‘Where are you coming from? Soccer practice?’
Espinoza asked him to repeat the question. De La Torre then repeated the question and head-butted Espinoza in the face. Espinoza then punched him in self-defense, leading De La Torre to fall to the ground, according to KFOX14.
Ysleta Interdependent School District superintendent Xavier De La Torre (left), was suspended for three days without pay on July 30 after he reportedly headbutted Socorro Interdependent School District Jose Espinoza (right) while drunk on June 13. Both districts run in El Paso, Texas
De La Torre appeared to be drunk, smelling of alcohol with red bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, as per the police report.
At first only Espinoza’s name was released as the victim in the heavily redacted police report. Later it was revealed that De La Torre was involved as the suspect.
Both men were detained and the suspect was escorted back to his hotel.
Following the incident Socorro ISD released a statement saying: ‘Dr. Espinoza was a victim in an unfortunate incident while in San Antonio, June 13, 2019…Dr. Espinoza was advised of his right to press charges against the suspect, but he declined to do so. Dr. Espinoza confirms the report is factual and accurate, and will let the official statement of accounts speak for itself.’
On Tuesday July 30 the YISD board of trustees decided De La Torre would be suspended for three days without pay in an executive session that did not allow comments from the public.
The incident took place at a Whataburger fast food restaurant in San Antonio, Texas where a group of educators were gathered for a teachers training conference. The alleged fight transpired after De La Torre asked Espinoza ‘Where are you coming from? Soccer practice?’
The school district trustees said that De La Torre’s suspension was ‘an appropriate cause of action due to Dr. De La Torre’ not advising the board promptly about the incident in question’, according to the El Paso Times.
He was suspended but the trustees didn’t mention his alleged drunken conduct.
His tenure at the district played a role in limiting his punishment to three days of suspension.
Board President Cruz Ochoa said in a statement prior to the decision: ‘In deciding the appropriate course of action, the board of trustees should also consider all of the great accomplishments of Ysleta ISD during the tenure of our current superintendent.’
However, De La Torre denied the incident last week releasing a statement saying: ‘I did not head butt anyone’.
He claimed he wasn’t the aggressor and that he never head-butted anyone. Espinoza, on the other hand, said the police report accurately described what happened.
No criminal charges were filed following the reported altercation.
The superintendent De La Torre reportedly makes around $314,000 a year and his contract is through June 2024.
The reports of De La Torre’s alleged drunken incident have sparked outrage in the community.
YISD parent Daniel De La Cruz, whose daughter attends Riverside High School, went to the Tuesday meeting hoping to address the trustees, but it was closed to public comment.
‘Knowing the facts that he was belligerent and drunk, I would basically ask the board members to fire him. That is not a way to represent our community. It’s an embarrassment; it’s a disgrace,’ he said, wearing a T-shirt displaying De La Torre’s face surrounded by alcohol bottles with the phrase ‘Code of Ethics Doesn’t Apply to Me!’