Political resignations stemming from La Joya ISD policy grow to four

At least four elected officials employed by La Joya ISD have decided to resign their political posts rather than risk running afoul of a policy the school district implemented in April that prohibits some employees from holding elected office.

That policy impacts employees who hold a position equal to or above an assistant principal at a campus, central office employees who are considered administrators or who supervise other employees, and central office staff whose role involves responsibility for the administration of public funds.

The state appointed La Joya ISD’s board of managers after years of corruption that resulted in guilty pleas from two former school board trustees and three former administrators.

Superintendent Marcey Sorensen has described the new policy as a way to avoid conflicts of interest that have been problematic in the past.

A letter sent out by the district’s administration after the district implemented the policy informed employees who met its criteria that though they wouldn’t immediately be fired, they wouldn’t be renewed at the end of their current contract term if they continued to violate it.

The district told employees they had until the end of April to report themselves to its human resources department if they were elected officials. They would be allowed to discuss resigning their elected position when they reported.

Laura Patricia Solis, La Grulla’s mayor and an elementary principal at the district, didn’t wait that long. She resigned as mayor hours before the board passed the policy.

On Wednesday, Peñitas City Councilman Jose Roel “J.R.” Flores followed suit.

La Joya ISD’s director of federal programs, Flores described the decision to resign as difficult, saying that ultimately he had to put his family first.

Peñitas supported state intervention and despite being negatively impacted by it, Flores stood by that decision Wednesday.

“The district, like I said, it’s something that had to happen. I had to take it with a grain of salt, and I know it’s for the better of the district,” he said.

According to the city, there’s three years left on Flores’ term. Peñitas will hold a special election next month to fill his seat.

Correspondence between the district’s administration and its employees obtained through an open records request shows at least two more elected officials in Hidalgo County have decided to leave elected office to keep their jobs as well.

Jose Luis Perez, a Palmview city commissioner, and Leonardo “Lenny” Sanchez, a San Juan city commissioner, both penned resignation letters on May 9.

Sanchez is La Joya ISD’s chief of police; Perez is an assistant principal.

Sanchez says San Juan’s city commission may accept his resignation at its next meeting.

Perez asked for his resignation to be effective at the end of this month.

The correspondence also shows instances where potential violations of the policy haven’t resulted in resignations from elected office.

At first the district told Palmview City Councilwoman Alexandra Flores that she’d fall under the policy if she won her reelection bid in May.

Flores, who works at Palmview High School as the coordinator of a college readiness program, won her race but felt like her job didn’t meet the parameters of the district’s new policy.

She met with district leadership and, she says, they wound up agreeing with her. Flores says she’ll keep both her job and her council post, though she was prepared to give up the latter if she had to.

Maribel Diaz, the president of the Agua Special Utility District’s board and a life skills coach at the district, met with administration about the policy.

It’s not clear what the result of that meeting was, and Diaz didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Jessica Ortega, a Mission city councilwoman who also works as a life skills coach at La Joya ISD, reached out to administration in April and asked to continue serving in both capacities.

Ortega couldn’t be reached for comment and it’s not clear what happened there either.

Other potential violations of the policy worked themselves out in other ways.

Roberto Zamora, Jr., a district administrator who ran for a seat on South Texas College’s board in May, would have been impacted by the policy if he won his race.

He didn’t win.

Nor did Jose “Pepe” Garcia, an assistant superintendent at the district and a now former Sharyland ISD trustee.

Javier Ramirez, a Palmview city councilman and assistant La Joya ISD transportation director, may have been impacted by the policy but he’s retiring from the district this summer, so it won’t matter.

The political and professional prospects for still other district employees aren’t detailed in the correspondence and remain unclear.

Ricardo Villarreal, Palmview’s mayor and an assistant principal at the district, says he’s still “weighing his options” regarding the policy.

Veronica “Betty” Mendoza, a Mission CISD trustee and life skills coach at La Joya ISD, said she was at work Wednesday and couldn’t talk about whether the policy affects her.

Mendoza said she’d call back later in the day but never did.

La Joya Mayor Isidro Casanova, who’s listed as a truancy prevention facilitator in this year’s La Joya ISD student handbook, says he’s not resigning as mayor and there haven’t been any other resignations on his council.