July 07--SAN BENITO -- School trustee Oscar Medrano said Friday that he will ask the school board to call for an investigation into board President Yliana Rodriguez's attempt to assign an insurance company without the board's approval.

Medrano said he will take his request to the school board after Superintendent Antonio Limon said he couldn't open an investigation to determine whether Rodriguez had ties to the vendors she tried to assign to handle the district's health insurance.

Rodriguez did not return telephone calls requesting comment.

In a July 2 letter, Limon wrote that neither Rodriguez nor the district had documents that Medrano had requested to determine if there is a connection between Rodriguez and the vendors.

"As to your request for an investigation into certain matters, I am not authorized to conduct an investigation at your request or to compile reports from district records at your request," Limon wrote to Medrano.

Limon told Medrano that he could take his request for an investigation to the school board.

"I feel as if my inquiry into this matter went to no avail," Medrano said Friday in an email. "I will continue to follow the chain of command until I get resolution to this matter."

In May, Medrano called for an internal investigation because Rodriguez failed to obtain school board approval when she tried to hire the Salazar Insurance Group and Robert Champion Jr.

Rodriguez, who retracted her attempt to assign the vendors on May 18, refused his request for information, Medrano said.

"I feel very surprised that she, as president of the board, did not make an effort to respond to my letter and address not only my questions but the questions of our taxpayers," Medrano said in the email.

Medrano said he requested that Rodriguez answer several questions about her actions regarding the district's insurance.

Texas Education Agency official Ronald Rowell told district officials on May 21 that Rodriguez needed board approval to hire a new insurance agent.

Rowell asked that the school board and superintendent "clarify the roles and responsibilities."

The Bob Trevino Insurance Agency in Pharr has been the district's insurance agent since 2002, Limon said.

Limon said the school district, which is self-insured, pays about $8 million into its insurance plan.

fernandodv@valleystar.com

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