BISD: MICROMANAGING, FAVORITISM AND DOG-EAT--DOG

"Minerva definitely had something to do with this, I was sitting in the Board room before the meeting started and I overheard Minerva asking Mr. Powers why did you take off the "s" (after the singular 'superintendent'), and lets ask if we can just add the "S." I'm sure the other people in the audience also heard, she was very persistent. What a disappointment they stoop so low in order to be liked."  Commenter on post on BISD trustee Minerva Peña behind hiring two area superintendents

By Juan Montoya
The commenter on our post of a few days ago outlining the micromanaging by Brownsville Independent School District trustee Minerva Peña in the possible illegal hiring of two (count them, two) area superintendents instead of the one listed on the board's agenda just confirms what district employees have known all along: we're back to the bad old days.
In the case of the hiring of both Terry Alarcon and Dora Sauceda when the agenda – and the compensation approved in the budget– only called for one, only points out the fact that favoritism, patronage and micromanaging is alive and well. It harkens back to the days when former trustee Ruben Cortez could into the Special Needs Department and demand that his relative be hired for the summer even though the application period had long been past.
And it goes even further to the administrative positions inbreeding that resulted when Otis Powers was trustee and a slew of his relatives found themselves in cushy jobs. Partly as a result of the public becoming aware of that, the voters rejected him once. Now it looks like Otis and his bods are up to their old tricks.
The following is a list of hirings and reassignments that have raised district employees eyebrows because the source of the acts are so obvious. For example, consider these placements:
– BISD counsel Baltazar Salazar and trustee Cesar Lopez are said to have been behind the reassignment of Jimmy Haynes from Operations to an assistant superintendent's position to remove him from the scene so they could act at will there.
– For years before Powers resurrected his political career and came back as board president, Teresa de la Jara had been applying for a principal's position but had never gotten her wish. Once Powers came on board, that changed and the administration gor her a spot at the Brownsville Education Center. It wasn't long before she wore out her welcome there and the complaints started coming. Administrative inaction has led to a drop in morale and continued strife.
– Trustee Jose Chirinos is said to have been the moving force behind the hiring of former BISD administrator Rachel Ayala's relatives (including one daughter?) who is rumored to have been selected for a spot as principal at Manzano Middle School.
– As they say, it all starts at the top, and BISD Superintendent Carl Montoya is not exempt from employee criticism. They point to both his wife and daughter being employed by the BISD, and allowing some trustees to dictate assignments and pay raises for their proteges. At stake?, their vote for his contract extension and pay raise requests.
The BISD has gotten to be a rumor mill and a pit of vipers as employees jockey for favor with the trustees and administrators. It's getting to the point where no one trusts anyone or believes their motives. We now have surveillance cameras in front of the superintendent and chief financial officer's doors. What has happened to the district when administrators have to look over their shoulders?