South San Antonio Independent School District trustees violated Texas education law in a number of methods, the Texas Education Agency present in an investigation that started final yr.
A preliminary report by company investigators mentioned trustees’ failure to meet six consecutive times from January by March and their canceling of 9 conferences altogether — halted essential district operations, together with funds, worker advantages and the hiring of key personnel.
The report summarized years of high-priced turnover of superintendents and failure to alter regardless of earlier TEA findings and makes an attempt at oversight.
It was despatched to district officers Sept. 16 and contained no advisable motion, which may come when it’s finalized. The board met three days later and voted to battle its conclusions by a 4-0 vote of trustees — together with one who filed a grievance with the TEA final yr in regards to the board’s relationship with its then-superintendent.
The TEA mentioned it acquired the district’s response and that the investigation was ongoing, with no deadline for making it remaining. The doc just isn’t publicly releasable and trustees and district officers declined to touch upon it.
“Overall, the fact that SSAISD has not retained a superintendent to full term since 2011, and that the Board’s failure to meet quorum for 58 consecutive days are indicative of unstable governance,” the report concludes, in accordance with a duplicate obtained by the Express-News.
“This ongoing failure to address deficiencies previously identified by TEA places the district in potential harm to the welfare to the district’s students and to the public interest.”
Interim superintendent Henry Yzaguirre was compelled to switch funds — with out the authority to take action — from the district’s common fund to a self-funded insurance coverage account to maintain the district from defaulting on cost, the report states.
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“This default in payment would have placed district’s medical insurance coverage at risk and medical service providers could have refused service to district employees and their families,” the report states.
The district additionally misplaced candidates for key jobs resembling chief tutorial officer, government director of human assets, director of amenities and director of communications as a result of the board couldn’t create a quorum, the minium variety of trustees to carry a authorized assembly.
Yzaguirre had been trying to rent these positions since January, however by the point the board was in a position to meet on June 26, 2022 and authorised the brand new personnel, many candidates had already accepted different job affords, the report mentioned.
It additionally discovered that trustees constantly did not collaborate with the superintendent and at instances wrongly interfered with the duties of the superintendent, particularly the choice technique of the district’s chief monetary officer.
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Trustee Stacey Alderete submitted a grievance to the TEA in June 2021 stating that the board “micromanages and interferes with the duties of the superintendent,” referring to then-Superintendent Marc Puig, whose relationship with most other trustees fell apart by the autumn and who was suspended for months earlier than parting methods with the district.
But this yr, Alderete voted with three different board members on Sept. 19 to ship a “vigorous rebuttal” to the TEA’s preliminary report. Alderete didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The district has an extended historical past of battle between its superintendents and its trustees. Since 2011, it has had eight superintendents, most of whom separated from the district earlier than their contracts ended.
Just since 2018, the district has paid a complete of $401,677 in separation agreements to superintendents Abelardo Saavedra, Alexandro Flores and Puig, the report states.
Puig’s six months beneath suspension price the district roughly $200,000 because it paid both him and the interim superintendent, the report states.
The TEA launched its newest probe on Nov. 29 however the findings echoed earlier such studies. In 2015, the TEA investigated allegations that the board “failed to establish and maintain effective management control over its finances and operations” and issued a “corrective action plan” to deal with these points.
But South San ISD did not adjust to the plan and, consequently, TEA appointed a conservator to supervise the monetary administration and governance of the district.
In 2019, the company started wanting into allegations that trustees failed to collaborate with then-superintendent Flores on gadgets pertaining to the district’s education plan, improperly contacted workers to debate district enterprise and contacted distributors and consultants on behalf of the district with out the superintendent’s consent.
The findings led the TEA to nominate Saavedra, the previous superintendent, in November 2020 to be a monitor over the district. TEA report mentioned the company reviewed Saavedra’s studies and located little proof that trustees had been working with Puig.
“Regardless of the monitor’s presence, the SSAISD Trustees continue to demonstrate behaviors unbecoming of elected officials,” the brand new report states.
The board met Monday to debate its response to the TEA with the district’s attorneys in closed session. Saavedra additionally attended and mentioned he was involved about district funds and the deterioration of its faculty buildings.
“You are doing fine right now but I don’t see a lot of (financial) capacity beyond right now, capacity into the future,” he informed the board.
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