McAllen school board President Tony Forina confirmed he was named in a complaint that has sparked an active investigation against someone Forina described as a supervisor at the district and a friend.
Sources with knowledge of the matter and speaking on background told The Monitor the complaint originated in the district’s Office of Marketing and Communications.
Jake Berry, that department’s director, has been absent from recent school board meetings.
A district spokesperson referred questions about Berry’s job status to a statement from Human Resources Director Todd Miller.
“The district cannot comment on confidential personnel matters or potentially pending investigations at this time,” Miller wrote.
The district responded to all questions about the complaint, the investigation and Berry with the same statement.
Berry declined to comment as advised by the district’s attorney, but said he would like to speak out when allowed.
Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez did not respond to requests for comment.
It’s unclear what that complaint alleges, who filed it or when it was filed, although the district’s school board discussed it in executive session on Nov. 14 and took no action.
Forina was not part of that conversation.
“Being that my name was mentioned, I have (voluntarily denied myself) any access to it because I’m expecting to be called in as part of that investigation,” he said about the board discussions. “So I want to make sure that the information that I give is the most accurate.”
Forina said he did nothing wrong and that the investigation was being conducted by the district’s attorneys.
“They told me that my name was mentioned within the complaint, but that’s the extent, and it’s in the investigation’s final days — from what I understand,” Forina, who began his second non-consecutive term as board president in May, said.
Forina and Berry were acquainted with each other before Berry joined the district as webmaster in 2016. Forina was voted onto the board in 2015.
Berry is perhaps best known for owning and operating Rio Grande Valley sports broadcasting venture 956Sports. He launched it about 10 years prior to joining McAllen ISD.
A Hidalgo County employee, Forina is better known for his frequent role as a local sports announcer.
For several weeks in 2015, Berry and Forina co-hosted a 956Sports program, generally interviewing local coaches and bantering with each other.
Forina appears to have departed the show in October of that year.
“The thing is, Tony has left me for another man. He’s left me for Chris King at UTPA — sorry, UTRGV,” Berry joked after Forina quit the show to work with the university.
“And I’m near crying, I think,” Berry said.
Forina’s Twitter handle remains @956Forina. Berry’s is @956jake.
McAllen ISD is seeking a Texas Attorney General’s opinion to withhold the complaint at the center of the issue from being released through an open records request.
The Monitor filed a request for that complaint on Nov. 15.
In a letter to the AG’s office, school district attorneys wrote that it “consists of a complaint and grievance filed with the district before it received the request for information and are still pending investigation.”
It’s not clear whether “complaint” and “grievance” refer to the same set of claims or two distinct ones. The district declined to clarify the matter.
In their letter, district attorneys largely argued the documents shouldn’t be released because of litigation or the possibility of litigation.
“Complaints and grievances filed with the District are ‘litigation’ in that the District follows administrative procedures in handling such disputes,” the letter said, describing those procedures.
“The complaint process must be completed before the complainant can file suit in district court against professional employees or the District,” it reads.
The letter also notes that government code exempts from disclosure information considered to be confidential by law.
McAllen American Federation of Teachers President Sylvia Tanguma said she’d noticed the agenda item on the complaint from the Nov. 14 meeting, but hadn’t heard anything else about it and assumed it had been dismissed in some capacity.
Tanguma said she was surprised to hear an investigation into the complaint was ongoing.
Since she joined the district in 2004, Tanguma said, she can’t remember a similar situation cropping up.
“I have never encountered any trustee, that I can recall, having any complaint against him or her,” she said. “This is the first time. I’ve been through many boards, several superintendents already.”
The shape of and scope of the investigation into the complaint is unclear.
Tanguma said she hopes the district and board act transparently through those processes.
“Being that it’s a publicly held position, they should be open with the public and the community about what’s going on,” she said. “I really believe that many of our members will want to know what’s happening.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated for clarity.
