Donna school district super under fire
DONNA — After a recent rash of demotions and promotions within the Donna school district, interim Superintendent Cecilio Saucedo’s duties were severely scaled back earlier this week.
The Donna school board voted 4 to 2 on Tuesday to indefinitely restrict Saucedo from making any personnel-related decisions.
“I felt that in the last 30 days there’s been a series of personnel issues that were alarming,” said Donna school board member Dennis Ramirez.
“In light of the fact he’s interim superintendent, we needed to take a step back and evaluate what had been done and what’s needed to be done.”
Saucedo did not immediately return phone calls for comment.
School board President George Hernandez and Secretary Alfredo Lugo, both of whom voted against restricting Saucedo’s duties, also did not return phone calls for comment.
Saucedo, a longtime administrator with the district, was named interim superintendent in July following Joe D. Gonzalez’s suspension.
But his support on the school board has since dissipated amid a continuing Texas Education Agency investigation into the district’s finances; Hernandez’s pending criminal trial on charges in connection with the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo schools corruption scandal; and the tension over recent personnel decisions.
The search for Gonzalez’s permanent successor was tabled at Tuesday’s meeting.
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James Osborne covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.
