Two ‘highly regarded’ TEA conservators will oversee Socorro ISD beginning in May
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The Socorro Independent School District (SISD) was notified Thursday afternoon, April 18 that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will be appointing two conservators to oversee their operations.
Michael Hinojosa, who previously worked as superintendent for the Dallas Independent School District, will oversee SISD’s Board of Trustees, and Andrew Kim, who worked as a superintendent in the San Antonio area, will be overseeing SISD’s Interim Superintendent James Vasquez and the district’s administration.
“They will be (here) mostly on a consultation basis. However, they will be here physically at times, attending board meetings and attending staff meetings and so forth,” said Vasquez.
President of the SISD Board of Trustees said they were advised that the conservators would be here for the May board meeting.
This comes on the heels of the district operating under a $33 million deficit, and two separate audits revealing an array of issues in how the district has been operating for several years.
The audits resulted in former Superintendent Nate Carman being placed on administrative leave for possibly having conflicts of interest and not reporting it.
The TEA’s audit revealed that SISD graduated at least 276 students in 2019 who had not met all graduation requirements.
The audit also made allegations that the district had made payments totaling in $283,000 in unauthorized stipends from 2016 through 2022.
The district’s Chief Human Resources Officer Dr. Angela Gonzalez vehemently rejected the allegations at a board meeting held on Wednesday evening, April 17, saying the allegations were “unsubstantiated” and “false,” and that they did not have the opportunity to contend them.
A separate forensic audit conducted by the Weaver accounting firm resulted in18 recommendations to the district that were addressed at the same SISD Board Meeting held on Wednesday.
At the meeting, a cabinet of SISD officials presented plans of action to address the issues found by both audits.
New proposed course of actions included standardizing the recording of deposits and reimbursements across campuses to improve visibility.
District officials said other solutions had already been made to address the TEA’s findings. These included the district creating a Graduation Task Force in 2020 to ensure students met the proper graduation requirements, and policy changes requiring the board of trustees to approve all disbursement of stipends.
“In my opinion, the actions that we’ve put in place as part of the corrective action plan, that’s honestly the easy part. It is just a matter of adjusting policies, adjusting some of our current practices and ensuring that all of our employees follow district policy. I think the hard part is going to be regaining the trust of the community,” said Vasquez. “We’ll work hard to do that in the coming weeks and months by being open, honest, and transparent with our day-to-day operations.”
Najera said he doesn’t believe that the conservators coming in will disrupt any of the action plans they have set in motion, but that they will welcome any recommendations they might have.
“It was certainly our responsibility knowing that the conservatorship was coming to still take immediate action to make sure that the areas identified as gaps in both the audit report and the TEA report are addressed immediately in an attempt to improve internal systems, policies, procedures, etc..” said Najera.
He said he anticipates having a “collaborative relationship” with the TEA conservators, and that they are not here to replace the district’s board or administration.
“If we are doing things incorrectly, inappropriately, things that would hurt the district instead of help, yes, TSA can step in. However, it is business as usual. So, the board is still overseeing the superintendent. The superintendent is still overseeing the district,” said Najera.
SISD will be responsible for paying the conservators for their services, to which Najera responded by saying it is “an investment in the future and success of the district.”
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