A temporary restraining order application filed Wednesday by two Edcouch-Elsa ISD school board members alleges the district was not complying with the Texas Open Meetings Act and delayed the board from taking action on Superintendent Greg Rodriguez’s contract.
They’re requesting that no action be taken on the contract until the school district conducts a climate survey of personnel on Rodriguez’s performance.
A hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for Wednesday morning. If it’s lifted, trustees could take action on Rodriguez’s contract that evening.
On Monday, Rodriguez said that neither he nor the district had a comment on the trustee’s claims.
In their petition for the restraining order, trustees Juan J. Ybarra and Fernando Torres say the agenda for last Wednesday was too vague.
Two items on that agenda related to Rodriguez’s contract: a closed session item reading, “Discussion on Superintendent’s contract” and an open session item reading “Discussion and action on Superintendent’s contract.”
That text did not detail what action the board may have taken on the contract and did not comply with state law, the trustees claim.
“Defendant has failed to comply with its operating procedures and with the specificity requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act,” the suit reads. “If the board takes action on agenda items 7.3 and 8.3 regarding the superintendent’s contract, the public will not be given sufficient notice of the action to be taken and therefore will be deprived of the opportunity to comment on the item.”
Agenda language related to the contract for Wednesday’s special meeting, where trustees will revisit the item, is identical to the language from last week.
Ybarra and Torres also argue that the board had previously agreed to survey all personnel on the superintendent’s performance and wait until the district received state testing scores before taking action on Rodriguez’s contract.
“Neither of these two items have been complied with,” the document stated.
The trustees are asking for those conditions to be met before the board takes action on the contract.
