Guess who picked up an election package to the board of the Brownsville Independent School District and is announcing that he is ready to take on board member Catalina Presas-Garcia, the same Catalina that threw him off the board four short years ago?
Would you believe Otis powers?
Yep.
Otis Powers, whose in-laws and relatives such as his wife Sandra Powers (Special Services, Asst. Adm. - $102,885), Mary F. Atkinson Tolman (Special Programs-$103,505), and Sylvia Atkinson (Asst. Sup. for Curriculum & Instruction-$113,004) now occupy well-paid positions in the district. And let's not forget former city commissioner Charlie Atkinson, who was placed in a coaching position at Faulk Middle School while his sister Sylvia served as the Asst. Superintendent for Human Resources.
In this election in November, four sets on the board will be up for grabs.
Besides Presas-Garcia, Minerva Peña, Rolando Aguilar and Joe Colunga are up for reelection.
None of the members whose seats are coming up for renewal has announced one way or the other if they will run. But already some of the names mentioned who will run besides Powers include, Jose Chirinos, Rachel Ayala, and Victor Caballero, former principal of Garden Park Elementary.
Chirinos and Ayala are compadres, so we might expect them to run as a ticket. Chirinos is the former director of Transportation before he was shunted off to curriculum and was drawing a cool $113,004 a year. Ayala was the former Asst. Super. for Educational Services (at $100,000-plus).
Powers, who fell before Presas-Garcia last time partly as a result of the electorate's distaste for electing board members who hold top-paying positions in the district, is also embroiled in a federal lawsuit involving the manipulation of the BISD grievance process in the case of Tony Juarez, the district's former Chief Financial Officer.
In that case, federal judge Andrew Hanen allowed the introduction of a tape-recording where Powers is urging Juarez to file a grievance against former Superintendent Hector Gonzales to give the board majority the justification to fire him.
At the time, Powers was not on the board but had a continuing relationship with the sitting board member on the majority (Rick Zayas, Ruben Cortez, Rolando Aguilar, and Joe Colunga). Partly as a result of that taped conversation, the judge said there was enough evidence to indicate that a conspiracy existed to deprive Juarez of his constitutional rights.
In the tape recording Juarez took to the FBI, Powers is quoted as saying: "So…you gotta, you gotta, I…I…"I’d file a grievance...Your grievance is against Hector Gonzales and the board is gonna love you for that."
Is Otis ready to be confronted over that continuing episode?
Otis Powers, whose in-laws and relatives such as his wife Sandra Powers (Special Services, Asst. Adm. - $102,885), Mary F. Atkinson Tolman (Special Programs-$103,505), and Sylvia Atkinson (Asst. Sup. for Curriculum & Instruction-$113,004) now occupy well-paid positions in the district. And let's not forget former city commissioner Charlie Atkinson, who was placed in a coaching position at Faulk Middle School while his sister Sylvia served as the Asst. Superintendent for Human Resources.In this election in November, four sets on the board will be up for grabs.
Besides Presas-Garcia, Minerva Peña, Rolando Aguilar and Joe Colunga are up for reelection.
None of the members whose seats are coming up for renewal has announced one way or the other if they will run. But already some of the names mentioned who will run besides Powers include, Jose Chirinos, Rachel Ayala, and Victor Caballero, former principal of Garden Park Elementary.
Chirinos and Ayala are compadres, so we might expect them to run as a ticket. Chirinos is the former director of Transportation before he was shunted off to curriculum and was drawing a cool $113,004 a year. Ayala was the former Asst. Super. for Educational Services (at $100,000-plus).
Powers, who fell before Presas-Garcia last time partly as a result of the electorate's distaste for electing board members who hold top-paying positions in the district, is also embroiled in a federal lawsuit involving the manipulation of the BISD grievance process in the case of Tony Juarez, the district's former Chief Financial Officer.
In that case, federal judge Andrew Hanen allowed the introduction of a tape-recording where Powers is urging Juarez to file a grievance against former Superintendent Hector Gonzales to give the board majority the justification to fire him.
At the time, Powers was not on the board but had a continuing relationship with the sitting board member on the majority (Rick Zayas, Ruben Cortez, Rolando Aguilar, and Joe Colunga). Partly as a result of that taped conversation, the judge said there was enough evidence to indicate that a conspiracy existed to deprive Juarez of his constitutional rights.
In the tape recording Juarez took to the FBI, Powers is quoted as saying: "So…you gotta, you gotta, I…I…"I’d file a grievance...Your grievance is against Hector Gonzales and the board is gonna love you for that."
Is Otis ready to be confronted over that continuing episode?
30 comments:
A "letter of concern" means that principle is a "administratos pet". What she (they) did is fraud and should be punished. It is ridiculous to ignore this kind of infraction. But in BISD....."compadrismo" rules.
Viejas pendejas pedoras---always making our district look bad. They probably changed answers at Lucio.
Cheating bitches---a slap on the hand is all they get from the idiots at glass palace.
Bola de ratas---starting with our school board.
Hope the FBI is monitoring all the meirda.
We all praise Mrs Medrano for standing up and raising the flag when something was wrong! That was a very brave and professional thing to do, in the 15 years of working for BISD had I never seen such unjust to one of its staff members for doing the right thing. Unfortunately they (whoever is calling the shots) had to make someone pay for making the school district appear scandalous. It makes a lot of staff members feel as though if you don't play by our rules you don't play.
If she believes that the rules and regulations do not apply to her Montoya needs to reassign her ass to the Wellness Program. Of course he needs to ask Adkinson permission to do so. A letter of concern means "we've got your back".
Where is the testing coordinator now?
Classic sign of cheating : a sudden bump in test scores, followed by a sharp drop off. This has been studied nationally. Texas stands out as a state that does not pursue indicators of cheating. Other states really get after it.
Congratulations to the 14 honest Pace employees.
These teachers should run for public office in Brownsville....they seem to fit the mold of the corrupt politician and have great political answers to cover their asses.
They remove a principle at Veterans High for standing up for her students and the parents....yet the give a "letter of concern" to a principle for cheating. Is this principle Sylvia Atkinson's friend or partner.
If there was any signs of changing answers TEA would of done an investigation. There are many ways to tell an it is impossible to change answers without having the corresponding test booklets. What she did is not a good practice but did not change the results. A letter of concern is put in a persons employee file and could later make a difference in getting another position.
Is this the reason why the district is creating Assistant Principals-Testing for all High Schools?
Wow, that's alot of information. You must have a great source inside BISD or someone there wrote this article and paid you to post it. That's the way you "roll", right?
Anonymous of 8:55 post: So because the information was finally printed, you label it as an inside job. The point is that a crime was committed by breaking all testing regulations and now a slap on the wrist will be the consquence. What happened to the Ass't Principal? Why was Ida moved when she was the one who followed the rules. I would already have a "Whistle Blower" suit filed against BISD. The comparison someone made regarding Acacia Ameels removal for supporting her students and parents is a good point. But I guess the rule is now that you BISD cronies are involved in or your name is mud. Why is the school board not looking into this matter? Oh, they are too busy worring about giving vendors the sale, depending on how much the vendor will line their pockets. This IS JUST SO DESTRUCTIVE FOR THE CHILDREN OF BROWNSVILLE. WHAT IS WRONG WITH TEA THAT THEY ARE SO AFRAID OF COMING INTO BROWNSVILLE???????? Bola de you know what!!!!
If I read your article correctly, am I to understand that a letter of concern was also issued to Ida Medrano, the then testing coordinator? Why her? For "putting the finger" on the cheats?
Were Raul Vasquez, Pam Van Ravensway, Berta Pena and Sylvia Atkinson at the scene? How could they determine that no wrongdoing was evident. What happened with all the actual eye witnesses that testified to the contrary? That is why the people in BISD do not bother to report all the wrongs that are happening in BISD and why the cronies get away with all this shit. I am truly surprise that Berta Pena has now joined the group, but I guess you don't bite the hand that feeds you, right, Berta? Shame on you and Pam also. The rest I expect it from.
She broke the Rules but she did not change any answers.
A letter of concern is not even a slap on the wrist.
With that said, this Principals scores have been off the charts, some would say "Unbelievable", which is kind of unbelievable.
Nice article, JM. is this the reason raul vasquez suddenly announced his retirement???!!!! Good riddance!
It's ridiculous that people like "Rose" (as her clique knows her) is allowed to get away with this type of unethical behavior. But that is BISD for ya.
But, Ida called Pam from Pace to report Longoria that day. Vasquez showed up and spent all day there collecting statements... Why is Pam's "timeline" stating otherwise? Is it that someone told vasquez not to report it at that time and now the cat is out of the bag and thats why he"retired" so quickly???!!!!
This is all bullshit. And if you could get into the Brownsville Voice you would realize that Montoya is a liar. When the story first broke BWC of the Voice stated that it never happened because he was on campus at the time of the incident and was with the principal the whole time. Of course he no longer blogs to the general public and cannot come to Longoria's defense. We need him back! LOL
When you are ' in' with atkinson...you are untouchable. Period. End of story.
BWC will not respond to the 11:15 comment because Juan has proven that he was wrong about the situation at Pace. The BV was full of promises but no action. I am glad that he is no longer posting.
BWC was not with Longoria at the time of the irregularities. If he is stating that he was he is not telling the truth. Their are 14 teachers that saw what happened and wrote statements. Everyone knows those teachers are telling the truth. BISD is trying to cover this up. Not so much to protect Longoria but so they don't look stupid for not keeping their soldiers under controll.
So the qq:15 blogger is calling the testing coordinator and 14 eye withnesses liars? Bobby will write what he pleases if it is going to help his cases with the special ed parents that he meddles with. Some of the teachers are long-time, respected BISD educators who are so fed up with all BISD does. I am glad that they had the guts to come forward with their view. Now watch! If SA feels they did wrong, watch if they not be placed in the pool or transferred. People can now see why some of us do not dare go against the establishment if we want to keep our jobs. If Raul Vasquez suddenly retired, maybe he felt he did not want to work with such a corrupt bunch of administrators who possibly made him finalize the report in the manner they wanted. I can not believe that Pam VanRavensway is in with the cronies because she is a true professional, or is she also one of Sylvia's "friends."
To the June 14 blogger, Berta Pena calle a Faculty meeting the day after the incident. She was of course, late. She had the entire staff arrive early while she made the grand entrance. Then she said "Nothing happened. Everyone is fine." and out she went...like guy from the new paper.
The teachers were furious because they knew they had done nothing wrong. How dare she insult them by calling them in early, while she waltzed in late to tell them they were ok. What a schmuck... Covering for her cronies without an inkling of facts. She needs to be romoved in the best interest of the district...
Stay tuned. The cleansing continues Monday when Atkinson comes back from a training with her cronie high school principals. I hear she she's dying to begin her musical chairs. I can just see her...setting the chairs up and getting the music ready while she controls the volume. She will place her asskissers in administration and totally screw the people who refuse to play her games. Atkinson is a sociopath. She probably little animals in her childhood. This is the reason she has no conscience, empathy or regrets. One day she will graduate to murder. But for now, her bloodlust is on check. As long as there are people to manipulate, bully and fire.
Berta Pena has always been a piece of garbage. She used to be one of Wally Jackson's puppets when she was Lopez HS principal. She let many idiots graduate and had some of the worst teachers in BISD. Is it true Oliveira middle school has lawsuits pending?
Juan, we hear that several changes have been made within the BISD establishment but nothing has appeared in the paper. Can you find out what people were fire, or transferred, or sent to the wellness program to watch the grass grow at the stadium. Are all these people being paid what their contract promised them? It should and I sure would like to be making $85,000 to watch the grass grow. What happened to the tyrannt Raul Vasquez? Why did he quit? I also heard that Sharon Moor has also jumped ship or is planning to do so soon. Juan, can you provide us with this info, since BWC just left us hanging with promises and promises and never came through with anything. No he shuts us out so that he can be begged to open up again. He is nothing but "hot air."
Gachos son los que hablan mal de Sylvia.
Por eso les pasa lo que les pasa
BISD administration messed up big time because Vasquez is at fault for not telling TEA, Dr. Montoya, and Dr. Atkinson the whole truth! Vasquez left off information that would have really gotten BISD in real trouble! Ida got punished for doing her job now administration knows the truth so Vasquez retires! I bet longoria & Medrano didn't get any letterr of concern. BISD is lying again to make themselves look like they did something about the wrong doing of longoria. All they did was cover up the biggest mistake they made but putting Rose Longoria as the principal at James Pace High School! Emberrassing BISD!! Lets take a poll "should longoria go or stay!?!?" & where is IDa now?? sure hope shes out that place,, but whateever happens,, EVERYONE JUST REMEMBER GOD WATCHES & HEARS EVERYTHING, IN THE END THE TRUTH COMES OUT!!
Amen!
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