Well our school situation has hit a new low.
It looks like some of our school district superintendents and some of their board members attended training sessions held in San Antonio last month (June).
According to articles in the El Paso Times two of our local superintendents got into an altercation at 1 AM on Thursday, June 13 that ended up with one superintendent being flattened to the ground and the police ultimately handcuffing the one on the ground.
Also according to the Times a San Antonio police officer’s report indicates that the fallen superintendent appeared to be intoxicated.
It also seems as though some school board members witnessed the event.
What happens in San Antonio stays in San Antonio
The Times also reported that one of the school board members said:
” We took off as quick as we can get the hell out of there because I knew that both you guys were going to be charged. Let’s go. That’s all I wanted. That was my objective. That was my objective. Don’t bring this back to El Paso. We swore that us guys over there, we said we were going to let it stay there, and for the most part it did stay there.”
A school board member’s goal was to see to it that the folks in El Paso did not learn about their behavior.
So much for the idea of public service.
Party time
According to the Texas Association of School Boards’ web site registration for the conference was to begin at 7 AM that same morning.
What were these public servants doing out at that hour, especially when their meeting was to begin is less than six hours?
Are the taxpayers going to pay for their late night activities? Where had they been before the incident?
If we have to pay for these people to go to out of town events shouldn’t we expect that they show up to the meetings ready to do their jobs?
Even if you could still manage to be out and about at 1 AM on a Thursday morning wouldn’t you think that you owed the taxpayers better performance?
The poor example that these people (superintendents and board members) have set for their students is shameful.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
Brutus finds something that is not in EPISD to complain about.
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And the point of this comment is??? EPISD should be untouchable?
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I believe the point made is Brutus (aka Javier Miranda) and this blog typically highlight all issues in EPISD and rarely point out issue in other districts.
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And rather than contribute something meaningful to the discussion, the respondent from Clint chooses to troll Brutus. Class
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The Times also reported that one of the school board members said:
” We took off as quick as we can get the hell out of there because I knew that both you guys were going to be charged. Let’s go. That’s all I wanted. That was my objective. That was my objective. Don’t bring this back to El Paso. We swore that us guys over there, we said we were going to let it stay there, and for the most part it did stay there.”
In addition to the ethical challenges associated with this statement, the grammar and vocabulary makes me cringe. If our school board members talk this way, is it any surprise that our schools are failing to deliver a quality education?
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Well if you have a couple of “superintendents” behaving badly one might be hesitant to report the incident for fear the “superintendents” will retaliate. Who knows they still may. It doesn’t seem to work out when telling the truth in El Paso then people find a way to make your work environment miserable.
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In theory, superintendents are accountable to the school board. The possibility that a superintendent with obvious alcohol problems might intimidate board members into silence by making their lives miserable is a stretch even for EP. It more likely the school board members didn’t want their participation in this stupidity highlighted. It adds weight to the argument that these training events are just taxpayer-funded boondoggles where participants spend more time boozing it up than accomplishing anything valuable.
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Usually on trips like this it is the administration/super’s team that makes sure trustees don’t get too drunk and become foolish embarrassments. This time it was the super who was drunk and out of control. If the board members to whom he is accountable do not fire him, then it is up to the voters to correct to things. If these processes don’t work, then our society is screwed!
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So, can they be fired for cause without having to pay out a contract?
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If not they should fire their attorney, but the city and the local school districts have entered into a lot of bad agreements.
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WOW, the board suspended De la Torre for 3 days, how painful, and reasoned that he was not on official business at the time of the drunken head-butt, so let’s move on. Yep. All his expenses were paid so he could attend a professional conference…looks like the board needs a refresher course in deduction…
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