TEA alleges misspending in Donna schools
By James Osborne
The Monitor
DONNA — The Texas Education Agency has forwarded the findings of a recent investigation into the Donna school district to the Texas Attorney General’s Office and the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office for possible criminal prosecution.
While the TEA report is not scheduled to be released until later this week, a copy obtained by The Monitor on Tuesday confirmed a number of the allegations made in a preliminary report released two weeks ago.
Among the findings was an allegation the school board gave a federally funded contract for computer equipment worth millions of dollars without getting a single quote from another company, as required under federal purchasing laws.
“It’s our obligation to forward to the proper officials because it is a possible violation,” said Robert Sanchez, supervising auditor at TEA. “We’re not legal personnel so it’s going to be determined by them if there’s a criminal act.”
District Attorney Rene Guerra had not seen the report as of Tuesday afternoon, so he was unable to comment whether he would pursue criminal charges.
However, he did say TEA needed to do a better job of policing the school districts themselves.
“I’m fed up with school districts not following the law, but I’m not doing cartwheels to read (TEA’s report),” he said.
“If a school district misspends $500,000, then the next year (TEA) should take away $500,000. Then let the voters get rid of the school board the next election.”
A spokesman for the Attorney General’s office could not say whether they’d received the report.
The computer contract went to Corpus Christi-based Integrity Communications. Representatives from that company did not return a late phone call for comment.
TEA auditors also alleged the Donna school district overpaid two staffers, Eloy Avila and Frank Garza, both Donna city commissioners; that it might have violated state nepotism laws by hiring the relatives of board members; and it may have spent untold sums of money without following proper accounting procedures.
School board member Gilbert Guerrero, who himself was investigated by TEA over claims he didn’t live within school district boundaries, said he didn’t believe the report would result in criminal charges.
“If there was criminal activity they would have arrested somebody for it already,” Guerrero said. “I see mostly procedural violations, nothing criminal. You have to have intent.”
Before TEA’s findings were finalized this week, board members and then-school district attorney Jacques Treviño — whose contract with the district was terminated Monday — all maintained that once the district had the opportunity to respond to TEA investigators all questions would be put to rest.
But within the TEA report are numerous instances where Donna officials maintained they had followed procedure but failed to provide actual evidence.
The TEA report was released to Donna school board members Friday.
By Monday, there was a special board meeting and Superintendent Joe Gonzalez was suspended. Treviño’s firing was also voted on during that meeting.
School board President George Hernandez, who cast the deciding vote against Gonzalez and Treviño, did not return phone calls for comment Tuesday afternoon. And other school members have declined to comment on the reasons behind Monday’s actions.
Guerrero, who is politically aligned against Hernandez, argued against the notion the TEA report predicated the action taken against the superintendent and school district attorney.
“They needed to do this, and the TEA report was an excuse,” he said. “They might lose George (Hernandez) down the line and then they won’t have the votes.”
Hernandez was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office last month over his alleged involvement in a cash-for-construction contract scandal in the PSJA school district. Hernandez owns a roofing business and is accused of acting as a middleman between contractors bidding on jobs and school district officials.
He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
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