AT BISD, MNNIE'S TROUBLES ARE NOT OVER AFTER D.A. APPEAL

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

The troubles of Brownsville Independent School District board member Minerva Peña are by no means over. 

Two days after the order by Visiting Judge Linda Yanez to dismiss nepotism charges filed against her by the Cameron County District Attorney's Office was filed with the Cameron County District Clerk's Office last Friday, prosecutors filed an appeal to the order this Monday. 

Now a special meeting has been scheduled for 3 p.m Friday, May 6 to consider a resolution related to the case.

Will the board approve a resolution in support of the state, or of their fellow board member? 

Prosecutors and defense attorneys were surprised that although Yanez's dismissal order had been signed March 31, they were not made aware of it since it was not emailed to the district clerk until April 29, almost a month after the judge signed it.

In the state's appeal, Saenz said the state had 20 days to appeal after the order was filed for public view,  not from the date it was signed. The State of Texas's Notice of Appeal is due to be filed on or before May 19, 2022, the appeal reads.

District Clerk Laura Perez-Reyes said she had received word that although the judge signed it almost a month before, she had neglected to tell her court administrator to file it electronically and the order remained in her office without notice to the respective parties or their attorneys.

"It was basically an oversight of that office," Perez-Reyes said Monday. "As soon as we found out, we placed it on the file." 

Peña, a trustee of the Brownsville Independent School District, had been charged on October 2021 with nepotism in the hiring of her late daughter-in-law as a teacher in the district. 

Peña had been the subject of an intense investigation by the DA's office since the death of her daughter-in-law who was asked to resign a few days after being hired at Veterans Memorial ECHS due to nepotism. 

While still reeling from the girl's death, Peña was charged with a Class C misdemeanor for violating Section 573.041 of the Texas Government Code which states that a public official may not "appoint, confirm the appointment of or vote for the appointment of an individual to a position that is directly or indirectly compensated from public funds or fees" if that person is related to the public official.

Following her indictment, on October 2021, a majority of the board voted for a resolution that prohibited the long-time board member from entering district facilities and property as a result of her indictment on the one charge of nepotism where she is charged with voting to hire her late daughter-in-law. 

The vote was 6-0-1 with Peña abstaining. It came after a 2 1/2-hour closed-door executive session.The prohibition means that Peña was banned from all BISD property and facilities except for board meetings and training. Will the resolution to be considered Friday continue her exclusion from BISD facilities?

The 12-year school board veteran has denied she had anything with the hiring of her daughter-in-law to a position at VMECHS and has told The Brownsville Herald it never happened.