TERCERO OUT, GIVEN TERMINATION NOTICE, ON PAID LEAVE

By Juan Montoya
The vice chairman of the Texas Southmost College board of trustees is confirming what was reported earlier on a local blog that President Dr. Lily Tercero has been given notice of termination and dismissal and has been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the results of a dismissal hearing.

The actions came at the tail end of a rescheduled meeting held Monday at the Gorgas Building at the college that lasted well past 11:30 p.m. Blogger Jim Barton and wife Nena were the only members of mainstream and social media present when the president was informed of the decision by the board.

Mike Shannon, Vice President of Student Services was named interim president.
I
n a short statement, trustee Trey Mendez, vice-chair of the board, said Shannon enjoys the confidence of the board.
"We have full confidence in his leadership abilities. He is the best person to help TSC during this transition."

The rescheduled meeting did not include the item titled: "Discussion and Possible Action on Special Counsel Report" that was in the cancelled Friday meeting.

This little hot potato of an item has to with the investigation ordered by the board into the extension of the windstorm insurance by the administration without board approval. That potential illegal extension could cost the college dearly.

The board of trustees directed TSC's legal counsel Frank Perez to launch the investigation after they discovered that the college's windstorm insurance contract had been extended without the matter going before the board.

The extension – and the rebidding and awarding the coverage – will cost additional funds that could have been saved if the administration had been on top of things and had informed the board months before the coverage expired.

Perez hired outside counsel to investigate how the windstorm coverage lapsed without the board being informed and who ordered the extension.

During a recent meeting, Tercero said she had approved the extension based on recommendations
from"staff."

When pressed on which "staff" had made the recommendation, she threw Carlos Pecero, TSC's administrator in Business Services, Finance & Administration, under the proverbial blame bus. But the fact that Tercero had renewed the windstorm policy without sending the item out for bids or even consulting the board irked the members.

The board, caught in a dilemma between Tercero's action and the hurricane season which is upon the Texas coast, put a majority in the mood of rescinding the contract which currently runs from April 7, 2016 to April 6, 2017.

Pecero said that when the administration discovered the policy was about to lapse, there were only two weeks left in the policy and felt they had no choice but to extend it.

Reports said that the coverage by BTW calls for an annual premium for basic windstorm of $829,789, but, adding the excess windstorm protection for damage beyond a certain threshold, adds another $214,000, taking the premium to over $1 million annually.

Mendez suggested aiming for an August termination, not liking the thought of a company benefiting from an illegal, unlawful or voidable contract.

Pecero hinted that rescinding the contract might lead to recovering a very small amount of the premium, "possibly only $40,000." Two buildings, currently on the policy as qualifying for a "superior construction discount," no longer qualify for that discount and would have to be insured at a higher rate.

The special counsel, a first-rate investigator who was an Asst. Cameron County DA before he went into private practice, will recommend to the board whether any criminal acts took place and whether they are prosecutable,

And, to make matters worse, there is an Item 7 of the agenda titled " Update on Associate Nursing Program" which has been halted by the State of Texas which prohibited the college from enrolling any new students and threatened to withdraw its approval of even having the program at TSC unless at least the entire graduating class makes an 80 passing grade. T
Texas A & M University has stepped in and is assisting TSC to try to make the cut. If the students don't reach that passing level, the program– which used to be the jewel of the community college – will die.

In contrast, Texas State Technical College in Harlingen has chalked up another 100 percent passing rate for Vocational Nursing class this semester.

“This is our third time receiving this pass rate,” said TSTC Vocational Nursing Program Chair Adriana Hinojosa-Vassberg. “We’re very proud.

“The vocational nurse is a very hands-on occupation, but we do expect our students to possess a lot of critical thinking and decision-making skills. The vocational nurse is responsible for domestic duties, and also has a high level of thinking. They have to figure out why a person is feeling a certain way.”

While people may assume that being part of such a program may take quite a bit of time to complete, the process is actually a lot shorter.

“The program itself is one-year, but we do require prerequisites before they begin, which will make their total time at TSTC about two years,” said Hinojosa-Vassberg.

Trouble had been piling for Tercero after the windstorm insurance issue, the nursing program problems and the fact that TSC  was the only one among six community colleges which did not receive federal grants to assist low-income students and encourage them to attend college.
Mendez said that TSC would issue a formal statement sometime today.