ZENDEJAS: "WE HAVE BEEN IN DISCUSSION WITH (A) COMPANY...(ABOUT SOCCER) CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS"

By Juan Montoya
Despite Brownsville Independent School District Superintendent Esperanza Zendejas' professed ignorance about how 40 rings for 28 players and 11 non-players of the Porter Early College High School's 2016 5A Soccer Championship rings were ordered, emails have surfaced indicated she had a personal role in the $31,025 transaction. (Click on graphic above to enlarge)

In fact, the emails indicate that she and and the Porter Principal and Athletic Coordinator had been talking to ringmaker Herrf Jones about acquiring the $895 rings each for the players and $995 rings each for 11 non-players as early as April 2016.

During the January 17, 2017 meeting of the BISD board, she acknowledged that an investigation by Co-Lead Auditor Arvin Tucker did not say who had ordered the rings, and that Tucker only ascertained that the purchase had originated in the Porter Athletic Department.

If a board member had not asked for an investigation and Tucker had not requested that the item to accept a $25,020 "donation" to the 28 students, "the superintendent wasn't planning to bring it to the board."

When Herrf Jones sent Porter the invoice for the $31,065 purchase, principal Hector hernandez sent it to Zendejas. Tucker stated in his report that she had "negotiated" for Herrf Jones to donate the student rings dor $25,020 and that the non-players would be required to pay for their own.

BISD counsel Baltazar Salazar pointed out that even after nearly a year that the rings had been ordered in April and given to the students at the start of the school year in September, the Dec. 16 audit did not say who had ordered the rings.

However, the emails that have surfaced clearly show that Zendejas responded to an email by Herrf Jones' rival Josten's The Class Ring Company whose vendor Jim Ramirez asked to be included in the bidding for providing the Porter rings and that "please let us guarantee that we will bet (sic) andy price out there plus give a letterman jacket and posters to go with the order. Also we will give each player free pictures... included with the rings."(Click on graphic below to enlarge.)

 
 Ramirez said that Josten's had provided the rings for the first Porter High School team to win a state championship (2005-2006). Zendejas responded that "We have been in discussion regarding studetn rings with the company that assisted Rivera early College High School with their championship rings last year.

Rivera, whose Athletic Director is BISD trustee Joe Rodriguez's protege Tom Chavez won the 2014-2015 6A Boys Soccer UIL State soccer tile. Herrf Jones sold the rings to the BISD that year.

Rodriguez was elected to the school board in November 2014 and is a registered vendor for the BISD for BSN Sports, which merged with Herrf Jones under the Varsity Brands umbrella June 25, 2013.

The issue of the purchase that circumvented the BISD procurement process came to light in the January 17 meeting. The issue came up again in the February board meeting but a six-hour executive session that ended at 1 a.m. forced trustees to call fort a special meeting next week.
Another item in the postponed meeting agenda is one that calls for the hiring of an attorney to investigate the purchase of the rings and $1.5 million worth of electronic tablets to be distributed to fifth graders in the BISD.