You Don’t Know Jack: Inside Garcia’s Termination

By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sanbenitonewspaper.com
The Inside Scoop

There are a number of interesting details surrounding the events leading to last week’s termination of Jack Garcia — the now-former San Benito CISD After School Program Director.

To review, Garcia, who had been employed by the district for 22 years — 20 with the afterschool program,16 years as program director, 15 as chess program coordinator, and was once Mayor of San Benito, is the son of the district’s former police chief Santiago Garcia and nephew to current school board trustee ML Garcia, who was the lone dissenter when the school board voted to contract a company named Brighton to oversee the three projects paid for by a $40 million bond voters approved in November of last year.

As background, Brighton is headed by Joseph Palacios, a former Hidalgo County Commissioner who was unseated this past election, and who’s an all-around Hidalgo County political powerhouse who comes from a family of Hidalgo County political powerhouses. Brighton was also a high-paying sponsor of the Superintendent’s charity golf tournament held last weekend at Tierra Santa Golf Club in Weslaco. Brighton was listed a diamond sponsor. Diamond sponsors, according to the tournament’s promotional material, donated $25,000 or more to the event. The event reportedly raised $100,000, said to go towards student scholarships.

On another side note, the tourney was attended by all but one board member (Board Trustee Angel Mendez did not attend) which interestingly constitutes a quorum of the board, but that’s a subject for another column all together.
It’s also interesting to note that after the bond election in November, board president Michael Vargas issued a now infamous and ominous statement via social media, writing, “…Tough leadership means making tough decisions that are not popular to an apparent few; we have overcome that and memories will not run short…” The district and Vargas have made good on that promise.

Vargas, a career educator who’s bounced around from job to job, recently landed a gig as the Pharr Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Public Relations Liaison.

 

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2019/04/05/you-dont-know-jack-inside-garcias-termination/

6 comments

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    • Citizen observer on April 29, 2019 at 9:21 am
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    Just reading these comments definitely confirm what I hear of main district office staff horrible work ethics from the human who answers the calls who is clueless to all! The community of San Benito get out and get people involved to dismask all the dirty deeds and in doing so it will change for the better! all workers of this district who has gotten comfortable due to dirty deeds they need to be exposed and fired!

    • Silver Fox on April 11, 2019 at 5:34 pm
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    I just read the article on Jack Garcia’ termination in today’ VMS (4-11-2019) and that parent’ have lodged a complaint about their children being put in harm’ way while on the chartered bus, which this “Carman cat” wanted in the first place. This “Carman cat” also was quoted that the complaint by these parents will receive “due process.” My question is, how can this “Carman cat” investigate this complaint when “HE” is the one responsible and the final authority that these students ‘HAD” to take a bus to the competition? Isn’t that the reason Jack got terminated? Wasn’t this “Carman cat” the one who “WANTED” his students to be bused to the competition?

    Well Carman, you “ARE” the one responsible who put “YOUR” students at risk, since you insisted that they be bused in the first place. Anyway, how did “YOUR” students do in the competition? Did they do better in the competition being bused OR when they flew?

    Just like the San Benito PD, an interim superintendent needs to be installed to investigate the complaint, to mediate the appeal. This “Carman cat” cannot be trusted to conduct a “nonpartisan” investigation since “HE” also has some type of political connection with this Brighton Company and this “Palacios cat.”

    • ANA LIZAR on April 8, 2019 at 6:23 pm
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    The San Benito district is going worse. The community trutly misses the previous Angela Leal principal Mr. Manuel Cruz. The current principal has no management. VIRGINIA ROMERO LACKS LEADERSHIP SKILLS. She has enough problems that doesn’t take care of the school issues.
    I attended the second grade parent’s luncheon at Leal Elementary with a friend about two weeks ago. One of the Pre-K teachers was yelling, pulling, and dragged a student. Apparently, every one knows what is going on but no one does anything to help this student. I wonder what the parent of that child would think seeing how that child is treated.

      • Bye Felicia on April 10, 2019 at 9:37 pm
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      Trolling much?

    • Observant on April 6, 2019 at 10:39 am
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    I might be wrong…but didn’t Dr.Puig and/or Dr. V.. the other supers.. fix San Benito financial crisis about 3-5 years ago ..when various principals, teachers ….jobs were on the line..and administrators were being demoted left and right…. My point is this: Why is Carman is spending thousands–millions of dollars.. towards useless buildings, lawsuit prevention payoffs, paying of former colleague (Phillips) so he can leave quietly (by the way how much money did he leave with anyways?)…where will SBCISD be in 2020?.. SBCISD IS WELL KNOWN FOR KEEPING THINGS SECRETIVE AND THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO KNOW .. it’s your children’s future they are screwing with.. people need to wake up and demand answers. Forget about sports…academics should be everyone’s priority!…. SBCISD is not the gold standard. Again…where will SBCISD in 2020… All this stuff going on.. no one bothers to realize it’s a school district.. it’s about your child’s future!.. those people only care about their bank accounts..namely the SUPER .. districts (the state).should set boundaries as to who they hire and what they are allowed to do..and how much previlege they get in return.

    • Observant on April 5, 2019 at 7:47 pm
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    Next Target: the principal from the Steam Academy. That woman has gotten away with ruining teaching careers for years. Even parents regret supporting her stay at the Dr Garza Steam Academy. .. SCHOOL BOARD .. please monitor her STAAR testing at that school… Her minions will do whatever she asks.. even capable of cheating on the exams. Many students there will not perform well … They know it and if you see the benchmark results you do too. Replace her and her whole staff with D.Cornett /Dr Cash staff. You all know that’s the best elementary school in San Benito.

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