MERCEDES — Mercedes school district trustees voted 4-3 against launching an investigation into administrative procedures and action taken on allegations of sexual assault and improper relationships between students and educators Tuesday evening.
Attention has been focused on the Mercedes ISD since a former coach at Sgt. William G. Harrell Middle School was arrested and charged with improper relationship between educator and student earlier this month.
A release from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office said investigators found that the coach, 53-year-old David Reyes, had allegedly given a minor items of a sexual nature and made several verbal sexual advances while he was an employee of the Mercedes school district.
A statement from the district said he has not been an employee since sometime in March.
Tuesday’s majority gave a variety of reasons for opposing the possible investigation.
Noting that the sheriff’s office is already seeking tips related to Reyes’ arrest, Trustee Ricardo “Rick” Garza specifically took issue with a line in the agenda item that would have charged whichever investigator or law firm the district chose to conduct it to look into “attempts to find any and all victims.”
“That in itself is putting our students in a bad position as well. There’s some kids who want to come forward,” he said. “Others don’t.”
Two of the other trustees who voted against the investigation with Garza — Brian Acosta and Lucy Delgado — all cited their own reasons they felt the investigation wasn’t the right move for the district.
Delgado questioned whether a law firm would be qualified to handle the investigation and what kind of “investigator” the district would hire.
Saying he feared another investigation would interfere with the ongoing probe into Reyes, Acosta added that he felt parents may not want to come forward.
Acosta also suggested the district’s staff is above question with regard to the necessity of an investigation.
“I think our staff is competent,” he said. “They were hired here for a reason. They know what they’re doing and I feel confident in that they’re going to do what’s right for our students.”
The minority faction, composed of Eddie Howell Jr., Oscar Hernandez and Pete Martinez III, disagreed.
Howell called student safety “paramount,” and said the investigation was needed in light of community criticism, which has reared its head at meetings and on social media.
“Parents are demanding peace of mind that we do everything we can do to make sure that everything was done properly and our students are safe,” he said.
Echoing that sentiment, Hernandez said the board had a duty to ensure transparency and accountability while Martinez said there are law firms that specialize in the types of investigation proposed that would be competent to handle it and worth whatever fee they charge. Martinez also said that the investigation was a necessary accountability step.
“If everything went great, that’s great,” he said. “But we just need to double check, make sure that we did what we were supposed to do. Everyone did what they were supposed to do.”
That opposition was unsuccessful. A vote from new Board President Rachel Treviño clinched the deal and the effort to hire an outside investigator failed.
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