The Weslaco school board unanimously approved an employment contract for Dino Coronado as superintendent Thursday evening.
The board tapped Coronado as its lone finalist for superintendent in early March.
The board spent a little over an hour’s worth of executive session discussions talking about Coronado’s contract this week.
A district spokesperson did not immediately say what Coronado’s salary will be Friday.
Coronado, who’s previously served as a superintendent and Texas Education Agency monitor, will be taking the helm of a district that’s been rocked by significant discord.
His predecessor, former Superintendent Priscila Canales, quit at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, just before the findings of a forensic audit revealing incompetence and potential misconduct at the district were made public.
The rest of the school year was equally eventful for the district. In addition to two high-level terminations prompted by that audit, the district weathered a scandal over an employee allegedly slapping a student and a succession of public grievance complaints alleging retaliation and misconduct.
In fact, despite all of that, the district’s board — heavily fractured a year ago — has been increasingly harmonious in recent months.
Board President Armando Cuellar certainly seemed jubilant Thursday, welcoming Coronado to the Weslaco ISD family.
“We’re very, very, very pleased and very happy and honored to have you here as our next superintendent of schools,” he said. “So, thank you very much.”
Coronado, for his part, struck the same tone.
“I look forward to the opportunity to serve this great community with a legacy and traditions that need to be carried on,” he said. “I look forward to working with the leadership team, the staff, the teachers, and most importantly, our parents and our teachers. Everyone deserves great leadership and a great district, and we want to bring all of our community back together.”
Even Criselda “Cris” Valdez — the district’s frequently embattled interim superintendent— seemed to be in high spirits.
Serving less than a year, Valdez often had the unenviable task of being a party to contentious discussions with roots deeper than her tenure at the district.
Still, Valdez, whose career began in the district, was farewelled cheerily and thanked the community for the time she served.
“I ran the race. I served my purpose,” she said. “I used my gifts and my talents to serve our children, and it was a beautiful opportunity and just a joyous time to come back to where it all began.”
Asked whether Valdez would stay on with the district in some capacity, a district spokesperson said Friday that it was Valdez’s last day and that she wasn’t sure what the interim superintendent’s plans are.
