Head Start names interim director amid division

McALLEN — The Hidalgo County Head Start Program Policy Council named a former longtime employee as interim executive director Wednesday, but not before another employee rejected the job, saying he didn’t agree with the way the group ousted longtime director Teresa Flores.

The division became publicly apparent last week, when the policy council recommended Flores’ termination to the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court. The council made the recommendation after significant discord and division among its representatives for at least a month.

Earlier this week, county commissioners acknowledged they had received the council’s decision to terminate Flores, but they declined to discuss it.

Flores’ attorney said afterward that she intends to sue over what he characterized as her wrongful termination.

The policy council, however, has moved on. On Wednesday it named Irma Peña interim executive director. The decision was not unanimous. Representative Abraham Padron, the council’s vice chair and usually a vocal member of minority opinions on the body, moved to appoint Edmundo Garcia as interim before Peña’s name was brought up.

Garcia, Head Start’s assistant program director, declined the offer.

“I’m very conflicted because of what was done — the way it was done — to the previous director,” he said. “I didn’t agree with what was happening here, I don’t agree with the steps you took. And that’s OK guys, I’m an employee, I don’t have to agree with what you do. But I don’t really feel like I would have your support and I don’t think that I could work with this group.”

Garcia said he was considering retiring soon, though he said he appreciated the offer.

“But I don’t think what was done to the previous director was fair,” he said. “I don’t think that the rules were followed. I’ve been here for many years, and that’s just my opinion. I’m sorry that I have to say that, but it’s very conflicted for me.”

Padron retracted his motion and ultimately voted with two other representatives against appointing Peña. The council ultimately chose her, but it did not discuss Peña in open session.

Attempts to reach Peña were unsuccessful, but a beefy four-page resume shows that she worked for the Hidalgo County Head Start Program for 35 years before leaving in 2015. She spent two of those years serving as interim executive director.

At the time of her appointment, Peña served as a Head Start Federal Reviewer consultant and as the social services director of Amara Hospice in Edinburg.

“I am recognized as a consummate communicator, accustomed to the rigors of complex working environments requiring robust interpersonal, organizational, and conflict resolution skills,” Peña’s LinkedIn reads. “I have demonstrated the capability to establish and retain strong relationships with cross-functional teams, community resource agencies, and other departments.”

And there are plenty of conflicts in need of resolving at Head Start, as Wednesday’s policy council meeting once again demonstrated.

Though calm compared to the fiery meetings the organization has held over the past two months, it still pointed to division among representatives and the program’s staff in the wake of Flores’ removal.