SAN BENITO — An online petition is blaming the school board’s majority for driving Superintendent Nate Carman to leave his office after nearly five years on the job.
Meanwhile, the majority’s members deny the claims.
After posting early this week, the change.org petition had 72 signatures by about 6 p.m. Tuesday.
“What this petition shows is the discontent of staff and community on the board’s actions since they were elected,” board member Orlando Lopez, who served on the board that hired Carman in 2017, said during an interview.
“Dr. Carman impacted the district drastically — academically, financially,” he said. “He set the bar very high.”
Now, Lopez blames the board’s new majority for driving Carman, whose four-year contract’s paying him $202,776 plus benefits, to take the superintendent’s job with the Socorro, N.M. school district — with nearly 50,000 students, one of the biggest in the state.
Last year, the board’s majority capped Carman’s spending limit at $25,000, from $50,000, before slashing his hiring power, giving the board more control over the district’s employment.
“They micromanaged him, limited his ability to work as a superintendent, and it’s obvious he didn’t want to work under those conditions,” Lopez said.
Under the banner “San Benito CISD school board majority taking us backwards,” the petition blames the board’s majority for pushing Carman into the job market.
“Dr. Nate Carman came to work in our district to help out our community and to help SBCISD come back from a revolving door of previous superintendents who left to avoid getting involved or mixed in the bad politics of the school board at that time,” the petition states. “Our district suffered significantly with the instability which caused the focus of the students to derail and our budget to plummet.”
“We have a superintendent who is very competent, qualified and has demonstrated (he) can lead us in the positive transformation of our district and who is now being pushed out for the same reasons the others were — a school board majority playing political games affecting our students and destabilizing our district once more,” it states.
The petition calls on the board to conduct “a fair and transparent process in the selection of our new superintendent.”
Board President Ramiro Moreno denied the petition’s claims.
“It’s just crazy,” he said. “It’s a stunt from a few community members or disgruntled folks. As far as the allegations regarding the board majority, there’s no truth to that. The superintendent left on his own accord. He got good evaluations. He’s going on to greener pastures. We wish him the best.
Meanwhile, board member Janie Lopez said the board won’t hold Carman back.
“I will not use my time or the district’s valuable time on making this a political platform. This is not about politics but to provide support to a superintendent that if he so wishes to pursue a higher position, we wish him well,” she stated.
“Texas Education Code Chapter 21 allows school boards of trustees to release a superintendent from an employment contract if a superintendent requests to be released upon a resignation,” she stated. “SBCISD board of trustees will need to vote whether to release him or not, if that is his wish. I personally will not hold anyone back from pursuing a different avenue especially one of growth or higher pay as long as it does not hinder our student learning.”
The district will continue to offer students a high-quality education, she stated.
“We have experienced teachers and administrators that will continue to provide exceptional learning,” she stated, adding, “As a school board trustee, I am focused on the success of our students.”
Now, the board’s searching for the district’s new superintendent who will work to help many students catch up academically after the coronavirus pandemic led to months of remote, on-line learning, Janie Lopez stated.
“A search for a viable candidate that will lead our students to a triumphant end of the school year will be of utmost importance,” she stated. “We have much catching up to do on educating our students after the COVID pandemic interrupted their learning.”
