An Agenda Item: PSJA Board closes ranks

PSJA ISD has had a capable superintendent now since late 2022 when the November school board election flipped the majority, swept out two incumbents by the largest vote disparity seen in recent years, which finally brought a decent superintendent back on board in the wake of three years of rack and ruin after Dr. Daniel King retired in late 2019.

Giving school jobs to vendors out of the RGV even though there were plenty of local vendors to do the same work.

Nothing odd about that.

Paying exorbitant fees to cut grass.

Etc., etc., etc.

Buying land for more than its fair-market value.

Creating high-dollar positions out of whole cloth without board approval.

Consultants, and or paid full-time staff, hired to oversee the work of long-time full-time school district employees.

Yep. Time for a change.

After the 2022 election, the new board majority voted to hire Dr. Alejandro Elias as the new superintendent, and since then, the district has accomplished more than most Valley districts.

Why the Agenda Item?

So why is one of the newest board trustees, Griselda Quintanilla, putting Elias’s name on this Monday’s agenda, so his contract can be reviewed, with the approval of another board trustee, Cynthia Gutierrez, even though his current contract doesn’t end for another two or three months?

If a trustee does that, it usually means there’s a reason. A problem, if you will.

At Monday’s meeting, though, more than one teacher’s union was represented, all of whom spoke in unwavering support of Elias.

For school superintendents, if you’ve made the teachers happy, that usually means you’re doing something right.

After the executive session Monday, during which Elias’s contract was discussed, with him outside the room, the board came back to discuss the agenda item.

Board Trustee Carlos Villegas made a motion to give Dr. Elias a 3-percent raise and to extend his contract by a year.

Trustee Ricardo “Rick” Rodriguez seconded it.

Cynthia Gutierrez claimed that Villegas was taking advantage of the fact that Elias’s name was on the agenda.

Villegas said, it was put down on the agenda as a “Board-Action” item, so he’s taking action.

Besides, according to Villegas, over the past year, approximately, the superintendent has refused to accept any pay raise, even though the district has a healthy fund balance. So, this time, Villegas wasn’t going to give him a chance to turn one down. There are other superintendents in the RGV, he said, who are getting paid more than Alejandro Elias with fewer students to guide and fewer accomplishments.

Villegas’s motion passed unanimously.

Because by then, maybe it was the union reps who spoke on his behalf, but no one on the board wanted to appear as if they had an axe to grind with Elias or wanted him gone.

In fact, that was what Trustees Gutierrez and Quintanilla both said — the placement of Elias’s name on the agenda doesn’t mean anyone is displeased with his performance. They only wanted to find out (I’m paraphrasing) how his job evaluation was supposed to pan out when it came up for review this coming spring.

Villegas said he wasn’t buying it, but we can leave that for another day.

Thing is, if you have a superintendent who has accomplished so much in such little time (read the list to follow), then why even put Dr. Elias’s name and his contract on the agenda for review?

They can disagree with me, but it’s really a show of disrespect. Especially coming, initially, from a woman who’s only been on the school board since last November when she beat Pete Garcia, 53.1 percent to 46.9 percent (1,607 votes).

Elias’s Kudos

If anyone asks how and to what degree PSJA ISD has changed, for the better, since Elias’s arrival as the new superintendent in late 2022, here is a partial list that mentions some of the district’s accomplishments under his tenure thus far:

2023

● Sustainability concept brought into the district

● 253 ESSER positions absorbed through attrition or Job placement ($18 million)

● SPED Funding evaluated bringing ($3.5 million extra)

● PEIMS coding evaluated to increase funding

● Opening of Pharr Building Blocks Academy I Pk3-First Grade

● Dr. King Center was opened for students with 27 different certificates

● $2,175 increase starting pay to $57,300 (Region-One Highest)

     ○ $2,000 loyalty stipend for professionals

     ○ $1,500 loyalty stipend for all other full-time employees.

2024

● Alamo Building Blocks Academy II opens its doors

● $1,750 increase starting pay to $58,250 (Region-One Highest)

● $1,250 loyalty stipend for all employees

● 985 teachers get designated TIA, bringing it close to $17 million

● Managed Completion of Construction Projects ○ LBJ Campus Renovation $22 million ○ PSJA High and Memorial Roofing and HVAC replacements — $24 million Project

     ○ Three outdoor Learning Parks, $12.4 million

● PSJA ISD leads the region in graduating more high school students with Certificates & Associate Degrees combined 587

● The district’s 4-Year Graduation Rate is at 97%, compared to the region’s 93% and the state’s 90%

● 50% of the district’s high school graduates earn college credit hours, significantly higher than the region’s 30% and the state’s 24%.