ECISD Board Members To Be Sworn In On Friday At Noon

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was edited Nov. 17, 2022, 6:30 a.m., to reflect the correct day, Friday, Nov. 18, for the ECISD Board Meeting.

The Edinburg CISD will hold a special called meeting on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, to canvass the votes for the Nov. 8, 2022 Trustee election and to swear in newly elected and re-elected trustees.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 12 pm at the ECISD Board Room at the Administration Building at 411 N. 8th Street in Edinburg.

According to the official agenda posted on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, at 5 pm, Trustees will canvass the votes and certify the election results. Once the election results are certified, the winning Trustees will be sworn in.

The Nov. 8, 2022 election results from the Hidalgo County Elections Department showed that Edinburg voters re-elected two school board members, voted out one board member and are set for a run-off. 

Newcomer Letty Flores defeated two-term incumber Oscar Salinas by more than 650 votes in the race for Place 2. The final numbers were 12,980 for Flores while Salinas received 12,321.

In the Place 1 race, incumbent Domina Vela will face Jaime Cavazos in a run-off. Vela received 12,580 votes to Cavazos’ 8,416. Vela earned 49.78% of the votes cast in the race to 33.3% for Cavazos. Frank Lara, the third candidate in the race received 4,276 votes, or 16.92%, of the votes cast. 

In Place 3, incumbent Leticia Garcia easily beat challenger Maricela de Leon. Garcia received 18,353 of the votes to de Leon’s 6,610.

In the Place 5 race, Xavier Salinas won re-election against challenger Shelly Duffey. Salinas received 13,160 to 12,072 for Duffey.

While the results provided by the Hidalgo County Elections have not changed on their website, the agenda does not mention setting a date for the run-off. The Board has a regularly scheduled meeting next week and may wait until then to call for a run-off election.

Other items on this week’s agenda include discussion and possible action on the approval of bids for heating and air condition (HVAC) improvements funded through the Elementary & Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds (CSP 22-133) for:

  • Barrientes Middle School at a cost of $8,585,141
  • South Middle School at a cost of $4,150,800
  • Edinburg North High School at a cost of $5,927,800 and 
  • Lee Elementary School at a cost $1,618,221.

The Board will also go into executive session to discuss with their legal counsel with respect to a claim by Rike Ogden Figueroa Allex, Architects, for additional compensation for the Career and Technology Education Project.

Behind closed doors, the Board will also discuss the Superintendent’s recommendations concerning employment, resignations, reassignments, retirements, non-renewals and terminations.

After the closed door session, the Trustees may opt to take action on any items they discussed in executive session.