Mercedes school board votes to fire superintendent, litigation possible

The Mercedes school board voted to terminate Superintendent Maria Chavez for good cause Tuesday evening, although no one at the district will say what that good cause is because they think there might be some litigation related to the dismissal.

Chavez joined the district as interim superintendent at the end of 2022 before being named to the full time job almost exactly a year ago.

She previously served as Santa Maria ISD’s superintendent.

The board had already placed Chavez on administrative leave in April, a step it declined to explain at the time.

The only thing Mercedes ISD leadership would say about Chavez’s ouster Tuesday is that they think some issue related to it could wind up in a courtroom.

“It’s personnel and potential litigation, so we’re just gonna no comment right now,” Board President Marcos Garcia IV said.

Garcia directed questions to Mike Saldaña of law firm Walsh Gallegos, the school district’s legal counsel, declined to comment on the same grounds.

“We don’t comment — I’m not making any comment right now on anything that’s pending,” he said. “I understand the newsworthiness of the situation, but basically we’re talking about pending litigation.”

Saldaña refused to clarify whether Chavez’s termination itself is pending or whether it was effective Wednesday night.

“No, no, no sir, I can’t,” he said, appearing visibly flustered. “I don’t have any comment. That’s my comment, is I don’t have any comment.”

The Mercedes school board signed a two-year contract with Chavez in June of 2023 under which the district paid her a base salary of $215,000.

Saldaña declined to say how the press could inform the taxpaying public why trustees decided to take the significant step of firing their highest ranking employee only a month before her contract would have ended.

The board would have, based on Texas Education Code cited in the contract, still had time to nonrenew Chavez rather than terminate her.

“I have no idea sir, I have no comment,” Saldaña said.

All of the board members present for the meeting voted in favor of terminating Chavez, though both Lucy Delgado and Nancy Vallejo — the only trustee to oppose Chavez being placed on leave in April — didn’t attend.

Nor did Chavez, who didn’t respond to a request for comment.

There’s been signs of trouble brewing at Mercedes ISD for weeks.

Tuesday’s meeting lasted till almost 11 p.m., not particularly long in comparison to some recent meetings in which executive session has stretched far past midnight.

Trustees have occasionally discussed a grievance filed by Roger and Olga Adame during executive sessions in recent weeks, though it’s not clear whether that grievance has any bearing on Chavez’s dismissal — a point the district doesn’t seem prone to clear up.

The Progress Times filed an open records request for that grievance packet in early May.

A representative from Walsh Gallegos replied with a letter in mid-May that contended that since those documents include student educational records they’re confidential under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The Progress Times wrote back on May 20 to request clarification on whether the district intends to seek a Texas Attorney General’s opinion allowing it to withhold the request or whether it plans to redact the information its attorneys feel is confidential.

So far there’s been no response.

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