KISS FM Knew About YISD’s Superintendent Cheating Scandal – Here’s Why We Didn’t Say Anything About It

Ysleta Superintendent Xavier De La Torre found out the hard way last week that what happens on social media doesn’t stay on social media. It becomes a news story, and it could mean a change to YISD policy and De La Torre’s contract.

De La Torre and his wife of 18 years, Amy Cobbs De La Torre, just recently got divorced, and she posted a photo and video of De La Torre that seemed to show him and a woman who works as an occupational therapist at the district at a football game in Arlington over Labor Day weekend. The De La Torre’s divorce had already been finalized at that time. The Facebook bombshell was screenshotted by a man who said he had dated the woman in the past, the district was informed, and a meeting was called to discuss YISD's lack of fraternization policy, and whether De La Torre's contract should be changed to reflect the situation.

El Paso media has known about the De La Torre situation for a while, but no one reported on it, including me, until after the meeting. A lot of people have asked why the media shied away from the story if it was already on social media. Here's why I didn't run with it:

1. It's none of our business. This was a divorce situation that blew up on social media after the parties were already divorced. Some Facebook comments on Amy Cobbs De La Torre's page seemed to infer that she had been posting about the problems leading to the divorce, but it was still a family matter, no matter how messy and public.

2. Social media isn't a reputable source. We all have that Facebook friend who posts stuff that is incorrect, controversial, or just plain stupid. A couple's divorce may be news on social media, but it is colored by their emotions and the emotions of their friends and family. That is not a story. It's chisme.

3. There were kids involved. The De La Torre's kids, the kids in YISD, the kids who listen to Mike and Tricia Mornings. Kids get enough salacious stuff online, we didn't feel the need to add to it.

4. It wasn't news until the district got involved. When YISD officials decided to discuss the lack of a fraternization policy and possibly changing De La Torre's contract, then it became news. His family drama had leaped off the screen and landed in the lap of the school board. When taxpayers are concerned, we report.

Hopefully everything calms down for the De La Torre family. We wish them only the best.