On Tuesday evening, the main yard of the city of Mission’s public works department compound sat completely open and unguarded to any thief who wanted to wander in and steal city material, equipment or paraphernalia. At least one warehouse in the yard stood wide open, both doors flung ajar, the building brazenly displaying equipment within.…

Mission CISD trustees voted Wednesday to change the district’s primary legal counsel for the first time since 1998. Trustees voted to hire the law firm O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo to replace firm Eichelbaum, Wardell, Hansen, Powell & Muñoz. That Austin-based firm has served as the district’s primary legal counsel for close to a quarter of…

Faced with a mammoth $55.3 million budget deficit, La Joya ISD dismissed 175 employees as part of an operational overhaul this semester aimed at righting the district’s incredibly poor financial position. Clues of significant human resources changes in the district have been evident for weeks, occasionally showing up in the form of angry public comments…

Mission Consolidated Independent School District Superintendent Carol G. Perez will receive three month’s worth of severance to quietly resign under a separation agreement she signed with the district Wednesday. Under Perez’s current contract, three months of pay is worth a little under $60,000. The Mission school board placed Perez on paid administrative leave a little…

An investigator with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office arrested an Edinburg woman last week who allegedly broke the law in an attempt to get the county to pay her with indigent defense monies for representing herself in court last year — even though she’s not an attorney and was represented by individuals appointed by the…

Sharyland Independent School District’s public relations department received 15 awards from the Texas School Public Relations Association earlier this year. The department did particularly well in photo categories, winning several of those awards, though it also received recognitions for things like logo design, video and print media.   At its May 13 meeting, Mission City…

After about five hours and 45 minutes of discussion in executive session Monday, the McAllen Independent School District Board of Trustees appointed attorney Lucía “Lucy” Thompson to the Place 7 board seat longtime Trustee Sam Saldivar, Jr. resigned from last month.   The board met at noon to discuss the 31 people who applied for…

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…