SAN BENITO — More than a month ago, school board member Ariel Cruz filed a Texas Public Information Act request for applications for the superintendent’s job.
Now, she is still waiting for the applications, which became public record after the board’s majority picked Theresa Servellon as its finalist for the job on Aug. 18, according to an attorney representing the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
“We never saw them,” Cruz said, referring to the applications for the district’s top job.
“I submitted the initial request to the district on Aug. 22,” she stated Friday. “I reached out to the board attorney, making it clear via email what I wanted on Sept. 2, (district spokeswoman Isabel Gonzalez) emailed me to clarify and that’s why I emailed the board attorney what I wanted.”
Trustees Orlando Lopez and Rudy Corona, members of the board’s minority, also said they did not see the applications before Servellon was picked for job — and they still have not seen them, they said.
“We still didn’t get the names of the candidates,” Lopez said, adding he has not requested the applications.
“I don’t think I should have to ask for it. Before, we’d get a list of all the candidates to discuss them,” he said, referring to the past school board, for which he served as president.
Filing request for applications
But Gonzalez stated Cruz did not receive the applications because she did not clarify her request.
“Dr. Cruz did not receive the requested information … because she did not clarify her information request to the district,” Gonzalez stated. “On Aug. 22, 2022, Dr. Cruz submitted a request for documents regarding the application packets for superintendent on a Texas Public Information Act request form and stated that confidential information within the packets could be redacted. However, the language of the request was unclear as to what information she was seeking. On Sept. 6, 2022, the district requested clarification on what specifically was being sought so that her request could be processed. When a request for clarification is made, it is up to the requestor to respond and clarify what is sought. Trustee Cruz has never responded to the district’s Sept. 6 request for clarification.”
However, Cruz stated she responded to Gonzalez’s request.
“I did respond to the message,” she stated.
On Sept. 7, Cruz stated, she told board attorney Steven Weller she wanted to review the applications.
“I spoke with an attorney and he recommended that I go directly to you and request that (information) as a member of the governing body,” Cruz stated in a message to Weller. “I literally just want to see them. I do not need copies. I will physically go look at them.”
In response, Weller wrote, “I will let Isabel know what you are requesting.”
Now, Gonzalez states Cruz has until next week to clarify her request for the applications.
“To the extent that Dr. Cruz considers her request to have been made in her official capacity as a board member, the district would have until Sept. 20 to respond, but again, that response did not occur due to the lack of clarity as to what was sought,” Gonzalez stated. “Moving forward, the district will consider steps to advise board members of the procedures that can be followed when information is sought — either as a member of the community or as a trustee.”
Second request for applications
Meanwhile, Cruz said officials did not respond to her request to review applicants’ information before the board voted to give Servellon her contract during a Sept. 13 meeting.
“During the Sept. 13, 2022, regular board meeting, Trustee Dr. Ariel Cruz voiced a concern regarding her access to the superintendent application packets and for that reason stated that she would abstain from voting on a motion (to) approve ‘Theresa Servellon as the San Benito CISD superintendent of schools and approval of (the) superintendent’s contract. Shortly before the board meeting on Sept. 13, Dr. Cruz sought to review the information. However, at that late moment, the district’s administration did not have an opportunity to respond or assemble the data. For these reasons, Cruz did not receive the requested information prior to the meeting.”
Board President Ramiro Moreno also stated officials did not have time to present Cruz with the information before the meeting.
“About an hour before the meeting, Cruz asked for the documents,” Moreno stated. “Everyone was preparing and getting ready for the meeting and were unable to look into it further on the spur of the moment.”
Interview process
During the candidates’ interviewing process, Cruz believes Moreno picked two candidates for interviews.
“The board president looked at the applications and decided who will be interviewed,” she said.
Moreno strongly denied the claim.
“The minority’s claim that an individual person selected the superintendent is utterly ridiculous,” he stated.
Moreno stated Cruz helped interview Servellon and the second candidate while Lopez and Corona did not attend the meeting.
“Five board members interviewed two applicants while Rudy Corona and Orlando Lopez did not show up for the interviews,” he stated.
Lopez and Corona said their work schedules prevented them from attending the meeting.
Applicants’ names withheld
Meanwhile, Gonzalez has declined to disclose the applicants’ names, citing Texas Government Code Section 552.126, along with an attorney general’s decision.
“The names of applicants for school superintendent positions are confidential and cannot be released in response to general inquiries or requests,” she stated. “The Texas attorney general has determined that this protection extends to information, other than the candidate’s name, that could be used to identify the candidate.”
But Tom Gregor, a Houston attorney representing the Austin-based Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, said the applicants’ names are subject to release after the school board names its finalist for the superintendent’s job.
“They don’t have to disclose the name of applicants for superintendent until they narrow the list,” he said, citing Texas Government Code Section 552.126.
Background
After a month-long search, the school board’s majority last month named Servellon its finalist for the superintendent’s job.
Following a state-required 21-day waiting period, she took the job.
Servellon’s selection came after months of discussions surrounding launching a search for a superintendent.
In March, board members began planning for a search.
Then in April, they considered hiring the Texas Association of School Boards to the conduct the search for $7,800.
Later that month, board members debated opening the search to other firms.
Then in July, the board’s majority voted to launch the search based on Moreno’s proposal to advertise locally for applicants to “expedite” the selection as the new school year was opening.
In March, former Superintendent Nate Carman resigned after about five years on the job to take a job with the Soccoro school district, with nearly 50,000 students.
Later that month, the board’s majority selected Servellon, a former longtime San Benito administrator and principal who had previously served as the South San Antonio school district’s chief academic officer, to serve as interim superintendent.
In 2017, the past school board hired Carman after a search firm produced a pool of 50 applicants.
In 2019, the board signed Carman to a four-year contract paying an annual salary of $202,776 along with a $1,800 monthly stipend.
