State names conservator for La Joya ISD
The Texas Education Agency named Diana Barrera-Ugarte as La Joya ISD’s conservator Monday.
Courtesy photo of Diana Barrera-Ugarte
Barrera-Ugarte, a former superintendent and TEA district monitor, has worked with the district since February as its Lone Star Governance Coach.
“For us, we look at this as just an extension of her role, which has been doing shoulder-to-shoulder work with us since February,” Superintendent Marcey Sorensen said. “And so this just puts her at an elevated role as conservator in terms of communicating more with TEA about the intervention itself, how the board is interacting and also as a support to the superintendent to ensure that the intervention is going well.”
In February, after rampant corruption, the TEA installed Sorensen and a board of managers to run La Joya ISD.
Barrera-Ugarte will oversee action related to the district’s governance team, conduct onsite inspections, support the creation of a plan to address systemic improvements and report on the district’s progress to the state, according to a letter Commissioner of Education Mike Morath penned Monday.
The district will pay Barrera-Ugarte $125 an hour plus traveling expenses below the state’s per diem rate.
Sorensen described the appointment as a natural part of the state’s intervention at La Joya ISD.
“We knew this was coming,” she said. “We expected it. We asked for it. And so yes, while the process may have taken longer than the community may have expected, we knew eventually that we’d get a conservator — as all board of managers do.”
Sorensen said she felt there may have been a misconception about the appointment of a conservator in some corners of the community.
She said the appointment doesn’t represent some sort of escalation of TEA intervention.
“The role of the conservator is really nothing more than to ensure that the board understands its role, now and as we transition back when the commissioner deems it’s necessary back to the responsibility of trustees,” Sorensen said.
