Complaint claims superintendent violated Open Meetings Act

By J. NOEL ESPINOZA

Special to the NEWS

 

SBCISD Superintendent of Schools
Dr. Nate Carman.

 

The lawyer representing Jack Garcia, the suspended director of the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District’s After School Program, filed a complaint with the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office alleging Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nate Carman violated the state’s Open Meeting Act at a Feb. 25 school board meeting.

“Right before the open forum, the superintendent read…revealing information about Jack (Garcia),” Edward “Tony” Conners, an Austin lawyer who is representing Garcia, said. “But, it wasn’t on the agenda. He violated the Open Meetings Act.”

At that meeting, before public comments ensued, Carman said he wanted to speak about an issue that gained some publicity over the weekend. He added that the News had contacted the district about a personnel matter regarding Garcia’s fate.

 

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4 comments

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    • Rosalinda G. Garcia on March 18, 2019 at 10:40 pm
    • Reply

    Just Imagine. It’s May 2018 and Dr. Phillips has hand delivered letters to teachers that they are being re-assigned to Southwest Keys.

    Just imagine, its August 2018 and my child and myself are looking forward to school year because my child will be taught by one of the best, experienced, teachers in district.

    Just imagine. First day of school and my child tells me she does not have the teacher we thought she would have in either math, english, science, or history. My child tells me the teacher has been assigned to Southwest Keys! I go…….What!

    Just Imagine. It’s a few days into new school year and these excellent teachers that were re-assigned now will now have to be sent somewhere else to teach because the Southwest Keys plan failed.

    Just imagine. You can’t send these teachers back to their original classrooms because the district has already hired new teachers to replace them.

    Just Imagine…..the waste of funds, the waste of time, the frustration brought upon these teachers, the quality of classroom instruction that was ROBBED from my child because the supt. re-assigned my child’s excellent teacher to Southwest Keys and that failed!

    Just imagine…. I don’t have a child in SBCISD. What if I did? But I am a taxpayer!

    • Rosalinda G. Garcia on March 18, 2019 at 10:15 pm
    • Reply

    You are right on pointt Sandra Tumberlinson. And a waste of funds in ordering technology equipment to go along with the Southwest Key failure. Someone made a huge, huge, miscalculation and gets an extension on his contract and raise? Wow! And Dr. Phillips is lost in the RGV but yet on payroll? He finally resigns after repeated questioning from SB News and us taxpayers. Someone needs to pay back our district the waste of funds. No way was he placing his full contract work yet he was being paid probably close to $9,000.00 a month. Bet his personnel file will show he left in good standing. Bet he received an excellent recommendation from
    SBCISD. The same for Celia Longoria or, Jack Garcia? What will their personnel files show? Will they receive recommendations too? I DON’T THINK SO!

    And the supt. comments were not placed on the agenda regarding his dialogue about policies, protocol, etc. . We were on the ” Public Comment” item on the agenda and the supt. is not the public.

    When the board holds their monthly committee meetings the chair asks for comments/concerns. . Should that have been the place and the time for Nate Carmen to give his opinion and concerns about the after school program and direction he is taking?

    • Sandra Tumberlinson, taxpayer, voter on March 15, 2019 at 9:52 pm
    • Reply

    May 2018, the superintendent assigned over 19 teachers and staff to Southwest Key and then hired that many more to fill in for those reassigned staff. Once the Southwest Key debacle was uncovered and collapsed around him, why wasn’t the superintendent suspened for making a badly calculated decision that cost the district over 1 MILLION DOLLARS in additional teachers’ salaries?
    Why hasn’t the school board demanded that Nate Carman repay us taxpayers and our district the 1 MILLION DOLLARS he owes this community?
    Jack Garcia gets suspended for “misspending” $17,000 on our children, but the superintendent gets an extra year added to his contract AND a $1,500 a month RAISE for wasting 1 MILLION DOLLARS on unneeded staff salaries. Why does the school board continue to inexplicably support this man?
    From Matthew 7:5: “You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

    • Nonpartisan on March 15, 2019 at 12:49 pm
    • Reply

    Great point made by Garcia’s lawyer if the point is indeed true. Laws should be followed and practiced; morals and ethics should also be practiced in the business setting, especially a school district. After all, it should be setting a good example for the children the district has been entrusted to. That said, regardless of what the Superintendent did or did not do, let’s shift the story back to why all this is happening. Where does everything stand with Jack Garcia? Is what he is being accused of doing true? Is it right? Is it wrong? Will he be held accountable? IF the Superintendent did something wrong, it does not mean Garcia should be let off the hook IF he is at fault for doing something wrong as well.

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