Edinburg CISD Board Approves Major Curriculum and Technology Contracts, Tables Insurance Item, Hears Public Concerns Over Safety, Grades, and Ten Commandments

Edinburg CISD, Board of Trustees, School Safety, Employee Grievances, Public Comments, Contracts, Edinburg TX

Arnoldo Mata

Edinburg TX – The Edinburg School Board approved a sweeping slate of instructional and operational contracts, tabling a controversial insurance item for committee review, and hearing pointed public comments on school safety, employee misconduct reporting, campus grades, and the posting of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

Board President David Torres presided. Trustees Ming Vela, Carmen Gonzalez, Letty Flores, Letty Garcia, and Louis Alamia were also present, along with legal counsel Shelley Smith and Superintendent Mario Salinas.

Enrollment Report

District enrollment officer Freddy Martinez presented the enrollment report as of May 23, 2026, day 174 of the school year.

District-wide enrollment totaled 31,613 students, a decrease of 1,035 students compared to the same point last year. By level, elementary enrollment stood at 15,886 students, down 584; middle school at 6,289 students, down 158; and high school at 9,438 students, down 293. Year to date, 150 students have graduated and 186 have left the district before the end of the school year.

Board President Torres offered brief remarks following the report. “I just want to say congratulations to all the schools, principals, teachers, parents. School’s over and have a successful summer,” Torres said.

Public Comments

Three speakers addressed the board during the public comment period.

Marsha Gonzalez delivered a detailed critique of district performance across several areas, beginning with academic excellence. She noted the district had been double A-rated with mostly A-rated campuses but said grades have since dropped to C, D, and in some cases F. She attributed the decline to the replacement of veteran employees with newer, less experienced staff and said spending on consultants and supplemental materials has not reversed the trend. “Hiring consultants and purchasing supplemental materials has not helped. It’s a waste of money,” Gonzalez said.

On employee misconduct, Gonzalez cited Senate Bill 571, which requires mandatory reporting of suspected employee misconduct to the State Board for Educator Certification within 48 hours. She questioned whether the district was complying with that timeline following incidents involving employees and students that appeared in news and social media coverage. “Have they been reported to SBEC within the state-required timeframe? Who’s responsible for reporting this misconduct, or is the district passing the trash?” she asked.

Gonzalez also raised concerns about an alternative campus where she said administrators had lost control of student discipline. She described incidents including students walking out of classrooms, fighting, using drugs, and vandalizing school property, and cited a recent incident that caused $15,000 in damage to a computer lab. She said two days passed before the campus administrator notified supervisors and district police. “If I were the superintendent, with the severity of issues that have occurred at this campus, I would have put this campus administrator’s name up for non-renewal,” Gonzalez said, noting that nine employees had recently been listed for non-renewal and questioning whether any administrators were included.

She also addressed a recent insurance presentation, questioning why the district relies on a single insurance manager for all health insurance decisions and challenging the framing of a projected $8.3 million rebate. Gonzalez broke down the figures, showing that administrative fees and per-employee per-month fees totaled $8,508,600 — essentially matching the rebate amount. “The same amount as administrative fees,” she said before her time concluded.

Fern McClary addressed the board on Senate Bill 10, the Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments in each classroom, which she noted has been upheld by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. She argued the posting does not constitute a religious mandate, does not require students to recite or affirm the Commandments, and does not conflict with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. “My question to this board is, if posting the Ten Commandments is a law, and it has been upheld by the court, why are they not posted here in Edinburg?” McClary asked. She distributed materials the district had produced using its own equipment and urged the board to use district resources to produce the required postings. “It just can’t hurt,” she said.

Rosana Gonzalez Montemayor, a counselor at Canterbury Elementary, addressed the board on behalf of colleagues who filed a group Level III grievance. Several fellow counselors rose to be recognized during her remarks. She said the concerns raised in the grievance had previously been shared with supervisors, district leaders, and board members in hopes of avoiding formal action. “Tonight, we respectfully ask the board to carefully consider the concerns that have been raised and recognize the importance of addressing them in a meaningful and timely manner,” Gonzalez Montemayor said. “We look forward to working together to find a resolution and are available should you have any questions.”

Consent Agenda

The board approved consent agenda items A through J on a single motion. Items approved included:

• Minutes from the April 28, 2026 board workshop and regular board meeting
• A state waiver application for low attendance on May 1, 2026
• Purchase of Reading Eggs and Math Seeds programs from 3P Learning for pre-kindergarten 3 and 4 — $44,877.50, state compensatory funds
• Purchase of YouScience industry-recognized certifications for CTE programs — $42,512.50, local and state funds
• Purchase of MusicFirst Teacher Incentive Allotment assessments — $43,399, local and state funds
• Continuing adoption of secondary textbooks, e-books, and online instructional materials from TEA’s state-adopted list — $13,509.60, instructional materials allotment
• Physical education online instructional materials from TEA’s 2022 state adoption for grades K through 12 — $28,910.60, instructional materials allotment
• Renewal of Frontline-Hayes TIPWeb asset management software — $46,833.55, local maintenance funds
• Purchase of 86 Chromebooks, 86 Google Chrome Education Upgrades, and five cycle charging carts for immigrant and ESOL classrooms — $40,826.90, Title III funds
• First-year contract renewal for decals, signs, and related items — $25,000, local maintenance funds

Action Agenda

The board moved through a lengthy action agenda, approving the following items:

• The board approved the ECISD Print Shop quote for student and teacher packets for all elementary campuses at $385,000, funded through local maintenance funds. One trustee praised the program’s track record. “I think Sharon Wells is such an amazing math program, and everybody else is struggling with the other one they’ve been using and their scores really — but they’re really struggling throughout the valley with it, so I’m glad that we stuck to this one,” the trustee said.
• Approved purchase of fine arts print and online instructional materials from TEA’s 2015 state adoption list for grades K through 12 — $58,125, instructional materials allotment.
• Approved purchase of the TEKSReady item bank for Eduphoria Aware from Eduphoria Incorporated — $51,166.50, local and state funds. Board President Torres commended district staff for the selection. “I want to commend our specialists and our directors for using this to develop those test questions for our students. An awesome, awesome choice,” Torres said.
• Approved renewal of Summit K-12 listening, speaking, reading, writing, and ELPS mastery components — $192,450, state bilingual funds.
• Approved purchase of educational incentives and reading progress kits as part of the Accelerated Reader program — $234,500, state compensatory funds.
• Approved contract with Renaissance Learning for Accelerated Reader and STAR Reading for grades K through 9 — $243,255.51, state compensatory funds.
• Approved renewal of the Ellevation LPAC program management and instructional support platform at all campuses through the BuyBoard Cooperative — $125,427.75, state bilingual funds.
• Approved interlocal cooperation agreement with McAllen ISD’s Regional Day School Program for the Deaf — $308,944, state special education funds.
• Approved memorandum of understanding with the Hidalgo County Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program for 2026-2027 — $80,000, local maintenance funds.
• Approved district-wide additions and replacements of Xerox copiers through the Omnia Partners/Region 4 ESC purchasing cooperative — $175,571.64, local, state, and federal funds.
• Approved renewal of the Palo Alto Next Generation Firewall Appliance — $86,226.05, local maintenance funds.
• Approved renewal of district-wide Microsoft 365 Education and Security Suites — $494,950, local maintenance funds.
• Approved declaration of certain inventory items as surplus and authorized an auction for their sale. During discussion, one trustee pressed the district’s technology director to ensure all devices are fully wiped before going to auction. “Just make sure that all our computers, that they’re completely erased. It’s happened in the past with past districts — things don’t get erased by accident, just overlooking,” the trustee said. The technology director confirmed the district reviews the issue regularly and is taking steps to prevent a repeat.
• Approved first-year contract renewal for reading and math software for kindergarten through eighth grade under RFP 23-76 — $802,133, state compensatory funds.
• Board President Torres announced that item P, approval of RFP 23-98 for voluntary student and athletic insurance, third contract renewal at a cost of $604,700, was being tabled and referred to the insurance committee for review before returning to the full board.
• Approved first and final contract renewal for instructional materials, site licenses, professional development, and related services under RFP 24-70 — $3,000,000, local, state, and federal funds.
• Approved RFP 26-42 for credit recovery services — $145,000, state compensatory funds.
• Approved first-year contract renewal for medical equipment and supplies under CSP 25-61 — $85,000, local, state, and federal funds.
• Approved first-year contract renewal for electrical supplies and equipment under CSP 25-70 — $200,000, local maintenance funds.
• Approved final completion of the Harwell Middle School chiller replacement under CSP 25-80 — $497,208.75, construction funds.

Executive Session

Following the return to open session, the board approved the following appointments unanimously:

• Ashley Corpuz as school psychology intern, Special Education Department
• Jillian De Dios and Maria Villareal as special education diagnosticians, Special Education Department
• Maria Garza as assistant director, Child Nutrition Department

No recommendations were brought forward for positions including counselor at Magee Elementary, counselor at the Juvenile Detention Center, or curriculum assistants at Magee and Travis elementary schools.

The board approved Superintendent Salinas’ recommendations on employment, resignations, retirements, renewals, and terminations in a single motion. Board President Torres acknowledged departing staff. “I want to thank all the retirees. Have a great retirement,” he said.

Employee Grievances

The board acted on three employee grievance matters.

In the Level III grievance of Jose Guadalupe Valadez, legal counsel recommended affirming the Level II response. The board approved.

In the Level III grievance of Gina Alamia, legal counsel recommended the board take no action on the item.

In the group Level III grievance filed by elementary counselors, whose representative Rosana Gonzalez Montemayor had addressed the board during public comments, the board deliberated entirely in open session with the full grievance record before it. Legal counsel recommended the board uphold the Level II grievance decision on remedies one, two, three, four, and six, while remanding remedy number five back to administration for corrective action if needed. The board approved the recommendation unanimously.

At-Will Employee Termination

The board voted unanimously to approve the proposed termination of at-will employee Adrian Olivares, acting on a recommendation from legal counsel.