In a dramatic — if not completely surprising — turn of events, Weslaco school board trustees approved Tuesday the resignation of Superintendent Dino Coronado and appointed outgoing Mercedes interim Superintendent Richard Rivera to the same post in Weslaco.
With less than a day left on the clock until his resignation became effective, Rivera was, in fact, attending his last Mercedes board meeting when Weslaco trustees made that decision.
Both districts appear to currently be lacking a functioning superintendent. Both men served less than a year in their posts.
Rivera’s last day at Mercedes was Wednesday, and he says he expects to start in Weslaco within two weeks, after contract negotiations. Coronado says he doesn’t technically resign till the end of 2023, but that essentially his last day as functional superintendent was Tuesday.
Mercedes ISD Board President Oscar Hernandez said trustees there will meet Tuesday to discuss appointing an interim.
Rivera said Wednesday that he’s only agreed to stay on as interim with Weslaco through June.
“So I will not apply for the permanent superintendent. I just want to be the interim until they find someone to lead the district,” he said.
The leadership shuffle follows significant, unrelated controversies at both districts that have played out over the past two years.
Mercedes faced the more outrageous scandals, culminating in the arrest of former Superintendent Carolyn Mendiola on charges she denied earlier this year. Leadership has also struggled to address issues with finances, facilities and safety.
Frequently, the Mercedes school board has been bitterly divided.
Weslaco’s problems have centered more on personnel and administrative structure. A forensic audit conducted last year described problems leadership has struggled to address, frequently seeming hamstrung by significant changes and a lack of consistent leadership. Former Superintendent Priscilla Canales resigned before that audit’s findings were delivered, and two high level administrators were fired after the fact.
That board, too, is sometimes bitterly divided.
If Rivera’s not hopping out of the frying pan and into the fire, he certainly seems to be hopping into a different kind of frying pan.
Rivera says he’s ready for the challenge.
“I told them that I thought Mercedes was my last stop,” he said. “But things happened over here not under my control. So I’m excited, I’m happy, to return to Weslaco, where I spent about 45 years.”
Rivera denied Monday that the opening in Weslaco motivated his departure from Mercedes, saying his resignation was solely motivated by trustees snubbing him for the position of permanent superintendent at MISD, a decision he interpreted as a vote of no confidence.
“It’s important because it’s hard to work with a board that’s 4-3 against you,” he said.
Rivera had a contract to stay on as interim in Mercedes through August 2024. If his sudden departure displeased members of that board, they didn’t say so at Tuesday’s meeting.
“We recognize that many good things have happened as part of your efforts in leading the staff and the teachers,” Trustee Orlando Rodriguez told him.
No stranger to Weslaco ISD, over the years Rivera has served as teacher, coach, principal and superintendent at the district, along with a stint as a board trustee. He’s also served as superintendent in Edcouch-Elsa and Monte Alto school districts.
Coronado’s resignation deeply divided the Weslaco school board, which is evidently split on how effective he was as a superintendent. Coronado’s signature effort from his time with the district was an administrative reorganization begun as a reaction to the district’s forensic audit.
Rivera says he’s not overly familiar with issues the district is facing, but said he’ll address them with the people-first mentality that earned him some praise in Mercedes.
“I’ll address them one by one. I’ll start meeting with people, beginning with the board. With staff, with teachers, with the community, and see what the problems are,” he said.
