ECISD Board Renews Superintendent’s Contract While Personnel Director And Payroll Director Contracts Terminated
Above: ECISD Superintendent Dr. Mario H. Salinas.
Edinburg TX — January 25, 2023
The contract for Edinburg CISD’s superintendent, Dr. Mario Salinas, was renewed at last night’s Board of Trustees meeting.
Listed as “Consideration of and Possible Action Regarding Evaluation, Contract, and Compensation for Superintendent of Schools,” the item was one of several discussed behind closed doors during the Board’s 3-hour executive session.
The details of what the board approved were not completely clear. During the open session, Dr. Salinas introduced the item as, “consideration of and possible action regarding the evaluation, contact and compensation for the Superintendent of Schools.” There was a motion and a second, and the item was quickly approved. However, neither the motion nor any discussion explained whether there was an evaluation, whether the contract was renewed or extended or for what length of time, or whether the superintendent’s compensation was adjusted.
In other personnel action, the Board approved the termination of the employment contract of the district’s personnel director and the district’s payroll director. The two items were listed separately on the agenda.
There appeared to be some disagreement on the Board regarding the two terminations. While most items quickly receive a motion for approval and a second – sometimes even before Dr. Salinas has completed stating the item – on the termination of the personnel director, there was a long pause after Board president Miguel Farias called for a motion before another board member made a motion. Additionally, there was another long pause before Farias seconded the motion. The same thing happened on the termination of the payroll director.
When Farias called for a vote, it was a 5-1 vote on the two terminations with Trustee Dominga Vela being the dissenting vote. There was no public discussion on why the two contracts were terminated.
Additionally, the Board approved hiring Mayra Marez as Curriculum Assistant for Gorena Elementary, Melissa Zamora as Curriculum Assistant for Barrientes Middle School, Alicia Gomez as Curriculum Assistant for Longoria Middle School, and Ruth Cantu as Assistant Principal for South Middle School. The Board also approved hiring Julie Perez as District Engineer for the Maintenance and Facilities Department
The Superintendent requested that the item for hiring a Software and Web Development Engineer for the Technology Department be pulled off the agenda.
Dr. Mario H. Salinas was hired as Superintendent of Schools for the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District in February 2021. He has worked for ECISD for more than 30 years.
Most recently, Salinas served as the ECISD Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services. In that position, he managed all aspects of the district’s operations since 2005. He also supervised several departments, including health services, police, child nutrition, transportation, maintenance and operations, facilities, social services, athletics, and fine arts.
Before being named an assistant superintendent, Salinas was a science teacher, head varsity basketball coach, and assistant principal at Edinburg North High School. He also served as principal at Edinburg North High School for almost 10 years.
He received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree in educational administration, and his doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Texas-Pan American.