ARE ELIZONDO AND ORTIZ APPEASING UNIONS WITH AGENDA?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Brownsville Herald

Various Sources

X.B.4. Discussion and possible action on retaining an auditing firm to conduct a forensic audit of BISD. (Board Member Request Carlos Elizondo, Board Support Frank Ortiz)

X.B.5. Discussion and possible action to direct administration to solicit requests for qualifications from auditing firms to conduct a forensic audit of BISD. (Board Member Request Carlos Elizondo, Board Support Frank Ortiz)

X.B.6. Discussion and possible action on termination of the Law Firm of Ohanlon, Demerath, & Castillo as general counsel for BISD. (Board Member Request Carlos Elizondo, Board Support Frank Ortiz)

X.B.7. Discussion and possible action on retaining an interim attorney for BISD. (Board Member Request Carlos Elizondo, Board Support Frank Ortiz)

Agenda items for today's 5 p.m. BISD board meeting 

They didn't wait long, did they?

In the first meting conducting business on the board of the Brownsville Independent School District, new board members Carlos Elizondo and  Frank Ortiz – who were backed in the last elections by the unions under the banner of the Association Of Brownsville Educators (AOBE) – will be paying their quid pro quo to the unions that supported their slate.

Feeling their oats, they think they have a majority on the board to 1) Conduct a forensic audit of the BISD 2) instruct superintendent Dr. Rene Gutierrez to solicits Requests For Qualifications from auditing firms fro the audit 3) discuss and take action to terminate the contract of the Law Firm of Ohanlon, Demerath, & Castillo as general counsel for BISD and 4) to discuss and  take possible action on retaining an interim attorney for the board's legal counsel.

Now, bear in mind that the BISD was just recently given a clean bill of health by its auditor. Having received a "clean" audit from its external auditor, the BISD is building its fund balance and preparing for "Life after ESSER," when federal pandemic-era funds will end in 2024.

According to the Brownsville Herald's Gary Long, on Nov. 17, BISD received an unmodified or "clean" audit for its operations during the 2021-2022 school year from its external auditing firm of Cascos and Associates, P.C., of Brownsville. BISD has received such an audit for several years running.

Chief Financial Officer David Robledo said the audit reflects $72 million in property tax revenue, $340.4 million in state revenue and $58.6 million in federal revenue, largely for food service operations.

"When you add it all up it's $471 million," Robledo said. "The grand total of everything we spend is $442 million. So when you do the subtraction $471 million minus $442 million, that's where that $28.9 million comes into play, the surplus, which went into the fund balance."

BISD's fund balance for 2022 is $132.2 million, $28.9 million higher than the year before. The figure for 2021 was $103 million, he said.

Meanwhile, district enrollment is holding steady, Gutiérrez said. As of Monday, BISD had had 37,990 students, a 1.3 percent loss compared to snapshot day in 2021 but far less than the loss in recent years, Gutiérrez and Robledo said.

So why does the new board majority need a forensic audit which, if compared to the last one performed could cost as much as $250,000? Don't they believe Cascos and Associates? Or do they have an auditing firm or individual in mind, one approved by the unions?

(After our post, some Elizondo supporters said that the forensic audit was aimed at uncovering a suspected $1.2 million loss to a "phishing" scam similar to one perpetrated against the Brownsville Public Utility Board and hinted at "other investigations." The BISD, aside from acknowledging the loss, has said that the FBI was looking into that report and were awaiting the results of the federal investigation.)

The same goes for the items dealing with the replacement of the board counsel. If we are not mistaken, the former board majority – after an expensive selection process – chose Ohanlon, Demerath, & Castillo to provide the board with legal advice at one of their meetings held June 2021 to replace former board counsel Baltazar Salazar.

Now it appears that the new board majority of Elizondo, Ortiz, Peña, and perhaps Jessica Gonzalez have decided to forget about the thousands spent on the search and selection process and hand it over to a Hidalgo County criminal lawyer.

(Insiders now say that new president Gonzalez may shirk from giving the new members her vote on the items above after a private tet-a-tet with the administration. We'll see tonight.)

Apparently, the unions have also been promised a Christmas bonus by the new board, as can be seen in this post circulating on their BEST/AFT site.

And are the teachers and BISD personnel happy in their jobs with the district? 

That is also addressed in another agenda item submitted by Elizondo and Peña. In it they ask for an anonymous climate survey in the item  X.B.1. Discussion, considerations and possible action on conducting an anonymous climate survey with all BISD Employees. (Board Member Request Minerva Pena, Board Support Carlos Elizondo)

Care to guess how the AOBE/BEST/AFT membership will answer that question knowing that they have the  majority of the board in their back pocket? 

And can their demands for the replacement and buy-out of Superintendent Gutierrez be far behind? After all, the taxpayers have plenty of cash in reserve for them to blow, according to the latest audit.