The Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees will discuss censuring Trustee Minerva M. Peña, according to the agenda for the district’s meeting next week.
The agenda further allows the board to refer the issue to the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office.
The agenda item will allow the board to discuss the matter with the school board’s attorney in executive session.
The agenda reads: “XII.E.2.a. Discussion and consultation with Counsel concerning possible Resolution to Censure Trustee M. Pena and to issue referral to Cameron County District Attorney. (Board Agenda Request Eddie Garcia-Board Support Dr. Prisci Roca Tipton, Denise Garza, Daniella Lopez Valdez)
“XII.E.2.b. Discussion and consultation with Counsel concerning possible Resolution to Censure Trustee M. Pena and to issue trespass notice. (Board Agenda Request Eddie Garcia – Board Support Dr. Prisci Roca Tipton, Denise Garza, Daniella Lopez Valdez)”
“None of that is correct,” Pena said to The Brownsville Herald Thursday afternoon. “I’m in shock that my colleagues would do this to me. Those two agenda items were shocking to me and I’m as surprised as anyone else. I’m in total shock.”
She added that she had “done nothing wrong” and that “it can be verified that I have done nothing wrong.”
Pena said one item concerns the hiring of her former daughter-in-law as a teacher at Veterans Memorial Early College High School. The woman later passed away.
Pena said she had nothing to do with BISD hiring the daughter-in-law, saying that as a board member she has always left hiring decision to Superintendent Rene Gutierrez and his administration as required by law.
Pena said the trespass notice concerns her having tested positive for COVID-19. She said after she became infected she was asymptomatic, notified the district when she became aware of her status, quarantined for 15 days and subsequently tested negative.
“It’s extremely disheartening,” she said of the board’s action. “They’ve already decided to come after me. They already have their quorum. I pray to God. This is the hardest test because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Board Chairman Eddie Garcia did not respond to a request for comment from The Herald.
The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the BISD board room at 1900 Price Road.
