Nepotism allegations surface in Weslaco ISD

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WESLACO - A business office employee has accused a principal of employing her two daughters and not requiring them to clock in and out work, according to a grievance field with the Weslaco school district.

The grievance, filed last month by payroll specialist Melva Segura, highlights the alleged actions of Ana Oliveira, the principal of Memorial Elementary School.

Oliveira is also the school district's assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

Segura's grievance, which claims the actions violated the district's nepotism policies, calls for the termination of Oliveira and Superintendent Richard Rivera, who approved Oliveira's recommendations to hire her daughters.

Rivera and Oliveira have denied any wrongdoing but declined to elaborate on the details of the grievance.

Rivera approved Oliveira's fall 2007 recommendations to hire her daughter Dianey, 21, as a Memorial office clerk and another daughter, Alyssa, 19, as a tutor assigned to Memorial, according to human resource documents in the grievance.

Rivera also approved Oliveira's recommendation in March 2007 to hire her niece, Monica Yvette Flores, 23, as a Memorial office clerk.

All three women are still employed by the school district, said Ruben Escamilla, a human resources administrator.

"I basically want to do my job and not continue to allow the misuse of funds in our district," Segura writes in a document contained in the grievance.

While HR forms list other candidates interviewed for Flores' position, they do not list other candidates interviewed for Dianey Oliveira's job.

Segura originally filed a complaint in February alleging that Ana Oliveira berated her and threatened her with an "official write up" after Segura requested information regarding possible payroll discrepancies among Memorial tutors.

Rivera, who said this is the first grievance against him in his 12 years with the district, said he would discuss the allegations in greater detail after the school board has an official hearing on the matter Monday night.

Several school board members said they were aware of the grievance but had not seen a copy of it.

"We have a procedure where grievances are heard by the board," Rivera said. "I don't want to get into any detailed discussion about the issue until the board gets the information."

Ana Oliveira, who said she has worked for the district for 24 years, added: "I have not done anything inappropriate."

The state's nepotism statutes only apply to school board members and, in some cases, superintendents, said Texas Education Agency spokeswoman Suzanne Marchman. She added that there is no law prohibiting a principal from supervising family members.

But the district's local nepotism policies do prohibit family members from directly or indirectly supervising each other. The policy does not mention extended family. The superintendent can make exceptions to the local policy in some instances.

Segura also alleges Rivera used "intimidation tactics and threats" through district staff in an attempt to quash her initial grievance.

A memo to Segura dated March 5 from two HR administrators informed her that she was "rude" to personnel she dealt with as she examined possible payroll discrepancies.

And in a signed affidavit, Segura writes that district Chief Financial Officer Arnoldo Canche told her Rivera had requested that she consider dropping her grievance against Ana Oliveira. Canche declined to discuss the situation with The Monitor.

Dianey Oliveira declined to comment for this story. Flores and Alyssa Oliveira could not be reached for comment at the school Thursday or Friday and did not return messages left at the school.

The district did not provide copies of the three women's employment applications or time sheets more than a week after requested.

Under the state's public information laws, government entities generally have 10 business days to respond to public information requests or refer the matter to the attorney general.

Segura would not speak with The Monitor for this article or provide a copy of her grievance; however, another source provided the newspaper with a copy of it, and school district attorney Fernando Saenz verified it was an accurate copy of the original.
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Ryan Holeywell covers PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.

  Editor's Note: This story was temporarily removed from themonitor.com in order to allow for staff to investigate the multiple reports of abuse. Numerous comments were removed due to infractions of the rules set by The Monitor. Although we respect your right to Free Speech, we ask that you read our rules, and abide by them, before continuing discussion on this topic.