PHARR — Concerns over pandemic protocols fueled previously existing board friction at a recent Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District Board meeting.
Two of the board’s trustees strongly critiqued the district’s pandemic protocol efficacy at the Jan. 17 meeting, though they studiously avoided criticizing the employees implementing that policy, while saying that they had called for a board meeting in late December to address the district’s pandemic policies that never happened.
Those trustees, Carlos Villegas and Cynthia Gutierrez, said they wanted to meet before the semester began to discuss pandemic concerns — concerns voiced by several employees of the district in that meeting’s public comment section.
In broad strokes, the meeting illustrated two things.
For the PSJA community, it showed that the fracture between Villegas and Gutierrez and the Zambrano brothers hasn’t gone away.
Regionally, that discussion showed that the leaders of Rio Grande Valley districts can’t always come up with a unified response to the pandemic despite a lack of external direction.
Politicians in the Valley — including trustees from PSJA — have been calling for more pandemic autonomy for over a year.
Hidalgo County officials indicated earlier this month that binding action for local schools is unlikely, and Gov. Greg Abbott appears to have adopted a largely hands-off approach to the latest wave of infections.
Rising cases and a lack of direction left the PSJA board split at their meeting last week: Villegas and Gutierrez called for more pandemic action, the Zambrano brothers were largely quiet and the remaining two trustees talked about the complexity of responding to the latest wave.
Rick Pedraza, the last trustee, was absent; he tested positive for COVID that morning.
Two of the district’s other trustees mentioned testing positive in the latter half of 2021, and a majority of the board talked about the challenges of addressing the pandemic.
Trustee George Palacios asked about more flexible teaching and testing options for exposed individuals.
Conceding that employees were in need of more assistance because of pandemic strains, Palacios argued that the surge began before the school year and noted that the area’s other large school districts remain open.
If PSJA opts for any seriously different pandemic action, he noted, it will be the first in the area to do so.
“I understand that we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others, but the county health department hasn’t given us any direction to go,” Palacios said. “They have not shut down. The cities have not shut down. The businesses have not shut down.”
Villegas and Gutiérrez, however, argued the district hadn’t talked enough about the pandemic over the winter break.
Both said that they had asked for some type of meeting before the semester began, a meeting that never happened.
“There’s a lot of concerns. Concerns that bothered me. Concerns that other districts are taking into account and are addressing — I think — the right way,” Villegas said, arguing that the district was fumbling about with its pandemic policy and lacking transparency to add to those concerns.
Employees did voice concerns in the public comment portion of that meeting, over things like a lack of virtual meeting options and hazy COVID-19 leave policies.
“We cannot bury our heads in the sand!” Trustee Gutierrez said emphatically. “We cannot continue to do that! All we want is when we request a meeting to plan, let’s sit down, let’s talk about it.”
Gutierrez told The Monitor later in the week that she feels the district hasn’t accurately portrayed its pandemic policies and that those policies aren’t being enforced uniformly.
Citing mostly second-hand accounts from school community members, Gutierrez said those concerns relate to a lack of COVID-19 tests, ambiguity over coronavirus sick leave and whether or not replacement central office staff are qualified to teach for absent teachers.
As an example, Gutierrez cited pictures she said she’s received showing students standing in a hallway outside a classroom. A student in that class, she said, had tested positive, and the rest of the class was waiting for the room to be sanitized so they could return.
“And then they bring them back into the classrooms,” she said. “And it’s different scenarios that I’m sure probably all the districts in the world are going through, but that’s why some of the districts chose to stay days at home.”
Gutiérrez was referencing districts like Weslaco and Mercedes, which decided to delay their return to school earlier this month over pandemic concerns.
Other Hidalgo County districts announced brief closures in light of infections.
Gutiérrez said she’s not necessarily calling for a closure, but she is calling for more discussion.
Asked for a comment about Gutiérrez and Villegas’ claims and concerns Monday, a PSJA spokesperson responded with a detailed statement she says illustrates the district’s pandemic policies that go “above and beyond” in communication and proactivity.
“Hidalgo County Health Officials have praised PSJA for being proactive and being one of the first districts to provide COVID-19 testing, as well as leading and modeling in the delivery of vaccines,” it reads.
The statement describes a COVID leave policy that provides 10 additional days for employees who test positive, “becoming one of a few public/private organizations offering this assistance.”
It further states that testing for the coronavirus is continuous, PPE is and has been available, contact tracing is happening, face masks are required, that the district has administered over 35,000 vaccines for the virus and that confirmed cases are accessible in real-time through the PSJA ISD COVID dashboard.
“Throughout the pandemic, PSJA ISD continues to strive to ensure health and safety for all students, staff and families by providing choices for families requesting virtual instruction and continuing to support students attending in-person school,” the statement reads.
Superintendent Jorge Arredondo voiced his support and belief in those policies at that meeting last week.
“This is the time for us to work together,” he said. “This is the time for us to pull together. And we’re gonna get through this storm, because we’re gonna work together.”
Villegas rebutted that the district wasn’t being transparent enough for employees; Gutierrez said it wasn’t being transparent enough for trustees.
