Mission CISD superintendent placed on leave, board greenlights separation agreement negotiations

At a special board meeting Monday, Mission Consolidated Independent School District trustees placed Superintendent Carol G. Perez on paid administrative leave and directed attorneys to negotiate a separation agreement with her. 

The board named Sharon Roberts, a deputy superintendent at the district, Perez’s acting replacement.

Trustees are slated to discuss naming an interim superintendent at another special meeting Friday.

Perez has been superintendent of Mission CISD since 2019. It’s not clear why a majority of trustees want her gone.

Trustees didn’t talk about their motivations for placing Perez on leave in public or in private at last night’s meeting.

Board President Iris “Coach” Iglesias declined to take any questions after Monday’s meeting, referring them to attorneys.

It did, however, become evident last week that there was likely going to be some friction between Perez and a new majority on the board.

Two incumbent trustees lost their seats in the May election and there’s been a power shift. 

In a tense meeting last Tuesday the board voted to hire law firm O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo to review Perez’s contract with the district, the legality of which is questionable.

Perez has a 10-year contract. The Texas Education Code limits superintendent contracts to five years.

David Hansen, the district’s regular attorney, has interpreted the contract as perfectly legal, describing it as a five-year rolling contract that renews daily and requires no revision.

Ben Castillo, one of O’Hanlon’s attorneys, didn’t elaborate that much Monday evening.

 “Our opinion is that the statute says five years,” he said.

Perez came armed with an attorney of her own Monday night: John Shergold of Brownsville.

Shergold addressed the board in public comment, objecting to trustees discussing Perez’s position behind closed doors in executive session.

Trustees still spent a little over an hour in executive receiving advice from their new lawyers.

“There is no valid reason to remove my client from her position,” Shergold told the Progress Times after the meeting. “If the district does come up with any reasons, they will be variously defended by myself against any accusations that still have not been made official in any format at this time. The superintendent still doesn’t understand why she’s been placed on administrative leave with pay and we’re waiting on an opportunity to defend her good name and reputation.”

The only obvious sticking point between Perez and the new board majority — her 10-year contract — shouldn’t even be an issue, Shergold said. He pointed out that the district’s own lawyer interpreted Perez’s contract as legal and added that she isn’t even five years into it yet. 

Besides, Shergold said he believes it’s a legal contract.

“This issue about the contract is, we believe, a very arguable, very debatable issue that could be taken to a court of law,” he said. 

Trustee Petra Ramirez cast the sole vote against placing Perez on leave.

Ramirez says she’s not sure why her colleagues want to remove the superintendent, but she thinks what’s going on is fairly self-explanatory: there’s a new majority on the board who walked in the door opposed to Perez, and they’re not wasting any time moving against her.