Mission school board hires new superintendent

MISSION — Oscar Rodriguez Jr. and Cornelio Gonzalez are going home.

The Mission school district’s Board of Trustees officially hired Gonzalez as the school system’s new superintendent and said farewell to its current leader during a special meeting Wednesday night.

Gonzalez will officially take over for Rodriguez, who has been the district’s superintendent for four years, on Feb. 15.

Rodriguez, who is from the Dallas area, said he plans to stay through the end of the month to help with the transition. He will then join his family in Dallas. Rodriguez said he’s looking forward to going home and is considering some job prospects there.

Trustees named Gonzalez as the lone superintendent finalist in a special meeting Dec. 15.

He has been the superintendent of the Tuloso-Midway school district in Corpus Christi since 2005. That district had an operating budget of about $23.2 million for the 2007-08 school year, 3,383 students enrolled in the 2008-09 school year, and received “recognized” ratings from the state in 2006 and 2009, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Under the state rating system, schools and school districts are labeled as exemplary, recognized, academically acceptable or academically unacceptable. The ratings are based on dropout and graduation rates as well as on results of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, the state’s battery of standardized tests.

The Mission school district has more than 15,000 students and had an operating budget of almost $117 million for the 2007-08 school year, according to the state education agency.

A native of the Brownsville area, Gonzalez began his career as a teacher in that city. He also served as federal programs director at the Progreso school district and as an education specialist in the migrant education program at the Texas Education Agency, according to biographical information the Mission school district provided. Gonzalez also garnered administration experience as superintendent of the Lasara school district.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas-Brownsville in 1985 and 1995, respectively. Gonzalez then went on to receive a doctorate in education administration from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001.

“I think he’s going to be a perfect fit,” School Board President James Olivarez said after the meeting.

Gonzalez said he is happy to be back in the Rio Grande Valley and is looking forward, along with his wife, Alma, to becoming a part of the community.

“I come here to serve, to be part of your team,” he told board members and district employees present at the meeting. “I believe families are important (and) I will do everything I can to make Mission (Consolidated Independent School District) a family.”

He also praised Rodriguez for his work.

“He has (made) a tremendous contribution,” Gonzalez said. “I intend to follow in his footsteps.”

Board members voted 4-2 in favor of hiring Gonzalez. Members Sonia Treviño and Patricia O’Caña-Olivarez voted against the hiring, saying they did not agree with some of the stipulations in Gonzalez’s contract.

Both left promptly after the meeting adjourned. But in a telephone interview after the meeting, Treviño said she did not agree with some of the stipends and other monetary issues associated with the contract. She said she did not specify her objections during the meeting because the board’s attorney was not present and she did not want to risk violating any rules regarding what could be discussed in open session.

“I’m going to go and be consistent (since elected to the board) and be … fiscally responsible,” Treviño said.

O’Caña-Olivarez could not be reached for comment after the meeting.

Gonzalez’s salary will be $155,000 a year, according to board president Olivarez. Rodriguez’s latest contract states he receives a salary of $160,000.

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Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.