The Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees passed a resolution Wednesday maintaining the status quo in a case involving its longest-serving member, Minerva M. Peña, and employment of her daughter-in-law as a teacher at Veterans Memorial Early College High School.
The vote was 6-0-1 with Peña abstaining. It came after a 2 1/2-hour closed-door executive session.
On Friday, Oct. 22, Peña surrendered to Cameron County Sheriff’s deputies on a single Class C misdemeanor charge of nepotism in the case. Earlier, a county grand jury and District Attorney Luis V. Saenz charged that Peña had violated section 573.041 of the Texas Government Code, the state’s nepotism law, between June 8, 2021 and Aug. 6, 2021 regarding her daughter-in-law’s employment. The daughter-in-law later passed away.
Peña has said she had nothing to do with BISD hiring her daughter-in-law, who later divorced from her son, saying that as a board member she has always left hiring decisions to Superintendent Rene Gutierrez and his administration as required by law.
After she surrendered to deputies, Peña’s attorney Rick Zayas posted an attorney surety bond for her and she was released.
At Wednesday’s board meeting, trustees considered censuring Peña but took no action other than to pass a resolution confirming what was already in place.
The resolution confirms the board’s duty to oversee management of the district and the fact it delegates responsibility for hiring and firing teachers to Gutierrez. Not withstanding that, the resolution also confirms the board’s responsibility to make sure nepotism laws are followed and enforced.
The resolution confirms Peña’s earlier agreement to refrain from attending any and all BISD activities with the exception of board meetings and board committee meetings.
After Wednesday’s meeting, Peña reasserted her intention to fight the nepotism allegations to the fullest extent possible and to ensure that what is happening to her never happens to anyone else.
