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Rio Grande City Grulla ISD voted to reassign Adolfo Peña, the previous superintendent, to another position in the district while also naming Elsa Morris as the new interim superintendent.
Meanwhile, Peña will retain his salary of $240,000 a year.
The reason for his reassignment was not disclosed to The Monitor nor was what position he was reassigned to.
Board member Veronica Barrera, who voted against the reassignment, has voiced her frustration over what she says is the lack of explanation for the change.
On Tuesday, Barrera said that she doesn’t know where Peña was reassigned to.
In a special board meeting on July 30, members discussed in closed session a possible amendment or change to the superintendent’s contract.
Without any public discussion, the board approved the change with member Noe Castillo and Eduardo “Eddie” Ramirez abstaining
The only board member to vote against it was Barrera.
The school board then voted to appoint Elsa Morris to interim superintendent on a month-to-month basis. Morris was the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction before her appointment.
Barrera and Ramirez abstained from voting on that item.
In an email to The Monitor, Barrera said she spoke to the district’s counsel, Baltazar Salazar, who told her that Peña was not terminated because there is no documentation on any failure to perform his job and he was therefore reassigned to another position in the district while they continue to pay his salary.
“My point of view is that us, as a school board, as members, we did not do our job supervising him and giving him the feedback or the supervision that we’re supposed to be giving him,” she said via a phone call Tuesday. “And now it’s like, OK, we’re not happy with you, let’s just put you aside but that’s not how things work, it’s not professionally done.”
Board member Eleazar Velasquez Jr. said during the meeting that change can be hard.
“Sometimes nobody likes changes but they’re necessary. I don’t want to sound brutal or bad but we get elected by the people and one of the things I like to do the most is to listen to the community. And many many employees were begging for a change and we need to listen to them,” Velasquez said.
Barrera’s email also stated that Peña currently has a four-year contract with one year completed.
According to Texas Education Agency superintendent salary reports, Peña has a salary of $240,000.
Barrera said his salary is a problem considering the district has a budget deficit of about $8 million going into next school year.
“Our school is really broke yet we’re going to continue paying this man for the next three years with that amount of money,” she said. “‘It doesn’t make sense,’ I told them. This is like a business, you can’t have that.”
Board President Basilo Villarreal Jr. did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Adrian Ozuna, director of public relations for the district, was unable to produce a district official for an interview with The Monitor.
As for Barrera, she maintained that reassigning Peña was not correct.
“We need to do things the right way, and if there isn’t any justification to get rid of him, then you’re going to have to go through the proper process and get rid of him until you have justification,” Barrera said.
