Edinburg football game incident leads to new board operating procedures

EDINBURG — The school board here held a special meeting Wednesday where they took action to draft board operating procedures to address a recent overreach in regards to an incident involving a school board candidate and district police officers at a football game last Friday.

On Sept. 6, Edinburg High played Edinburg Robert Vela High in a rivalry game at Richard R. Flores Stadium. Off the field toward the sidelines is where the incident involving Alex Rios, a candidate for the Edinburg CISD school board, took place.

Rios attended the special meeting and gave his side of the story during public comments.

Going into the details of the night, Rios said he arrived at the stadium with family and friends.

Watching the first quarter of the game in the stands, he said he was approached by stadium staff and invited to receive a 2024 sideline pass. Greeted by board member and secretary Luis Alamia, Rios said he gave him the pass on the south side entrance gate.

Shaking hands with ECISD Superintendent Mario Salinas, directors and staff, Rios then said he exited the field to request a booster club volunteer to give him a shirt to wear over his campaign shirt to show unbiased support.

Upon reentering the sideline area, Rios said he was detained by the district Chief of Police Ricardo Perez Jr. and surrounded by a captain, sergeants and security officers. He said he was unwanted in the area.

“I then asked by whom and he replied the athletic director,” he said. “Minutes later, your AD calls me to the exit gate and is asking me to leave the area. Confused, I asked him if there was something wrong, or if there was a particular reason why I was being removed.”

Rios said the Athletic Director Oscar Salinas then tried to remove the lanyard causing him unwanted contact. He then said he was scared and held against his will and requested to exit the sidelines.

Upon exiting the sidelines, Rios said he requested Perez to send an officer to file a report.

“He declined, telling me that the dispatch was quote, unquote clocked out,” he said.

Not leaving until he filed a report, Rios said he was asked to leave and wait outside of the stadium. While waiting outside for 45 minutes, he said he reflected on the interaction.

“At no point was I being rude or disrespectful as to why the humiliation, assault, intimidating tactics used by ECISD administration and employees to anyone who had been invited by one of your own,” Rios said. “Now I question what the intent was in giving me this pass … We are asking this board to please make sure that this incident does not occur to any students, any staff and any community member of this community.”

The meeting, attended by everyone except board members Alamia and Dominga “Minga” Vela, immediately went into closed session.

Upon coming back into open session, ECISD’s attorney Benjamin Castillo read the outcome of the closed session.

“Due to the recent actions of certain trustees who are not currently present, who acted outside the scope of their authority, the board has directed me to draft formal board operating procedures,” Castillo said at the meeting.

He said the procedures are to provide clear guidelines for trustees to remain in their defined roles and respect the boundaries set forth in law and policies.

“Effective immediately, all trustees may not go to any campuses without a specific purpose and prior authorization from the superintendent,” Castillo said. “In addition, the board has requested the superintendent to strictly limit sideline access during district football games to only those whose presence is necessary, including trustees … Lastly, I would like to remind all candidates, including sitting board members, that school events are an opportunity to celebrate our students’ achievements. To maintain focus on the students we ask that all candidates and sitting public officers refrain from wearing campaign materials during these events.”

Board member Miguel “Mike” Farias said it was unfortunate that the actions resulted in a special meeting.

“It’s very upsetting,” Farias said. “We have a lot of positive things in our district, and because of their actions, it really shines a negative light on Edinburg …”

Contacting Alamia via a WhatsApp text, he said, “I agree that the Board should adopt board operating procedures so we can hold ALL SEVEN of ourselves accountable and ensure the focus always remains on the students of the district.”

Reaching out to Rios on Thursday, he said he is happy to close this out and turn the page.

“Misunderstandings and miscommunications happen everywhere, in every business, in every district, in every family,” Rios said. “So to me, this was all a misunderstanding and miscommunication between staff and administrators because the school board member gave me that pass. That person didn’t communicate to the proper authority to let them know that he had had me as a guest.”

Asked if he has talked to Alamia since the incident, Rios said he has not.

“The whole situation made me feel terrible emotionally,” he said. “My family was there and got to see it … When I went back to the stands, I just felt really ugly inside and (my wife) noticed it in my emotion.”