Edcouch-Elsa board selects new interim superintendent

EDCOUCH – The Edcouch-Elsa school board unanimously approved the district’s third temporary superintendent Wednesday night and yet again made a request for candidates to permanently fill the position.

Personnel Director Robert Rodriguez took over district operations on Thursday in place of Frances Rocha, who served as interim superintendent for 16 months as she simultaneously retained her position as assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

Trustee Joseph Campos, who recently won election to the board along with President Benny Layton, said the change in leadership would allow Rocha to return to her original position.

“She was already doing double duty for a while,” Campos said. “This is not really a reflection on her. She is well-respected and spent 30-some years dedicating herself to the community.”

Rodriguez now serves as Edouch-Elsa’s third interim superintendent since 2009, when bloated budgets, state sanctions and political pressure led the former superintendent to resign.

Though the district has turned the tide financially, it has also seen a variety of academic problems which resulted in an “academically unacceptable” rating from the Texas Education Agency this year.

Campos said he hopes Rodriguez can focus on improving Edcouch-Elsa’s low graduation rate while the board concentrates on finding a suitable candidate to permanently head the district.

“TEA is breathing down our neck, and we have certain obligations to the community to find the best qualified candidate,” Campos said. “Because we have an ‘unacceptable’ rating, it allows parents to pull their children. As a consequence, we lose resources to help the children.

“We need every dollar from the state and need to put a stop to this vicious cycle,” he said.

Rodriguez will earn a prorated salary of $84,000 and has already hit the ground running, Campos said.

Both Rocha and Rodriguez were unavailable for comment Thursday.

Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4472.