By ARABELLA SERRATA
editor@sbnewspaper.com
San Benito Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees held a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
The pledge of allegiance was given by Juan Blanco, III, and the invocation was given by Angelique Danielle Trevino. Both presenters are students at Judge Oscar De La Fuente Elementary School.
Special recognition was given to “excellent” members of the school community. Students of San Benito High School were congratulated on their College Board National Recognition Programs. To qualify, these students must have a GPA of B+ or higher and must be in the top 10% among PSAT/NMSQT test takers in their state.
More students were congratulated for their exceptional scores on Accelerated Placement [AP] exams.
Students chosen to perform at the National Flute Association in San Antonio on Aug. 3 were also applauded.
These students performed alongside 300 other flute players from the Rio Grande Valley. KRGV’s student of the week, Israel Villarreal, was recognized. Villarreal is a student at San Benito High School.
Brianne Castillo was recognized as the 2025 Regional Elementary Regional Teacher of the Year. Ms. Castillo is a first-grade teacher at Sullivan Environmental Science Academy and will represent South Texas during the selection process for the Texas Elementary Teacher of The Year for 2025.
Public comments were opened. Mary Maney, a math teacher at San Benito High School, thanked the board for its employee compensation plan. Maney hopes that the hugely successful aspects of San Benito will be recognized by many people. She jokingly suggested the $500 Christmas stipend be distributed to the teachers in response to the 19-hour videos they were assigned. She called for recognition for the security guards and “little people” that make the school days easier or help provide critical services like afterschool dinners.
Rosalinda Garcia, a local businesswoman and community advocate, asked the board to “continue to pump money” into the curriculum as much as they do athletics and to clarify an expenditure for bricks and containers, seemingly for construction.
Jaime Gonzalez represented the City of Los Indios with the Mayor Pro-Tem Anita Weaver and commissioner Kia Quiniela. He gave a background on the area, saying that part of the consolidated school district belonged to Los Indios previously. He asked the board to return the property to Los Indios.
Superintendent reports were given. Orlando Lopez, board president, presented. He addressed the “terroristic threats” being made by students. He stressed that these are not “bad jokes or harmless pranks” and that the district has a strict policy forbidding such behavior. Punishments for such threats include suspension, expulsion, and permanent records affecting prospects. He shared the district’s strong belief in dialogue and educating students and parents about the severity of such threats. He encourages parents and guardians to talk to their kids about these issues and to tell them to report anything suspicious.
Lopez announced the district’s first town hall meeting would be held on Sept. 12. It will discuss the district’s five-year strategic plan.
The Career and Technical Education [CTE] Presentation was given by CTE director Fernando Rosa. He shared that about 88% of students in the district are active in CTE courses. These courses aim to teach specific career skills to make students more employable after graduation. San Benito CISD offers 22 different areas of study.
Rosa then showed that the CTE program had an industry-based certification [IBC] exam passing rate of 77% in the 2023-2024 academic year. Rosa showed the Career and Technical Student Organizations [CTSO] extra-curricular groups in the program; he said San Benito CISD produced “more state and national champions than any other organizations” in the district. He pointed out that they receive no funding from the district and must fundraise themselves. Rosa presented the school community partners who work with the teachers so that they can accurately instruct the students on what to know for the workforce. Courses were added and new teachers were assigned to the program.
He also spoke on renovations for shop classes and new programs for CTE. Pushes in marketing for CTE were shown to give the program more exposure.
Consent agenda items for academic services were approved. This included approval for the San Benito CISD code of conduct, the student handbook and the bullying prevention and intervention handbook. The partnership between San Benito CISD and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to offer mentoring to “at risk” students through their Rewarding Education Attitude Leadership Mission [R.E.A.L] program was approved. The partnership between San Benito CISD and the Cameron County District Attorney to target students with felony charges related to vaping and assist them with “rehabilitation, education and family/community support rather than punitive measures” was approved.
Also approved was the Buckner-FAYS program, which provides services to youth up to 17 years of age and their families to “reduce family conflict, help with family support and skills and prevent the problems of a runaway, school attendance issues, and delinquent behaviors.” The San Benito CISD partnership with Region One Education Center Library Services was approved. This will give students high-quality instructional resources and services.
The Upward Bound program was approved. This program helps low-income, first-generation students get to their secondary education. The Clinical Education Affirmation between the San Benito CISD and Batta Pediatric Clinic was approved. This will serve students enrolled in the Medical Assistant Program as part of the Practicum of Health Science two course. A similar agreement between San Benito CISD and All Valley Family Medical to be effective Jan. 20, 2025, through May 20, 2028, was approved.
Consent agenda items for business and finance were approved. Cash account, tax collection, check disbursements, and comparison of revenue and expenditures to budget reports for August 2024 were approved. Budget amendments, gifts or bequests for the 2024-2025 school year, and approval of purchases over fifty thousand dollars were approved. Proposals for general merchandise and services were approved.
Architectural firms and structural engineering services to the school were approved. Unemployment compensation with the Texas Association of School Boards $109,182.00 was approved. Tax rate maintenance and operations, resolution to set the interest and sinking rate, and resolution for payment discounts were approved.
Items on the administration consent agenda were approved. Revisions to the 2024-2025 compensation plan were approved. The Guardian Program resolution was approved, as were the board minutes.
The meeting went into a closed session to discuss employment, resignations, retirement and terminations. Those items were approved as discussed in a closed session. The meeting was adjourned.
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