BISD funds settlements [The Brownsville Herald, Texas]

Sept. 20--By a 4-3 vote, Brownsville Independent School District trustees have approved spending $700,000 in fund balance to pay BISD's share of a $1.5 millionHector Gonzales and Antonio Juarez.

The vote came at Tuesday night's Board of Trustees meeting. It left the district's undesignated fund balance at $60.2 million, Chief Financial Officer Ismael Garcia said. Trustees Catalina Presas-Garcia, Enrique Escobedo, Luci Longoria and Christina Saavedra voted in favor of the $700,000 budget amendment. Minerva Pena, Rolando Aguilar and Joe Colunga voted against.

At Presas-Garcia's request, BISD counsel Arturo Michel explained that the amendment was "to fund a couple of recent settlements." He indicated that he was talking about the recent settlements with Gonzales, a former superintendent, and Juarez, a former chief financial officer.

Under settlement terms announced Aug. 21, Gonzales is to be paid $800,000, the majority to be covered by the district's employment practices liability insurer, BISD said in an earlier statement. In addition, he will be engaged as a consultant for $144,000 per year for two years, the district said. He started work on Aug. 22.

Juarez received a settlement of $700,000 to be split equally between BISD and its insurers, the statement said. He was to be hired under a two year contract at an annual amount of $154,106 inclusive of salary, benefits and insurance. He began work Sept. 10 as BISD's assistant superintendent for Human Resources.

Pena said she voted against the amendment because "In my heart I cannot take money from the kids to settle lawsuits." Aguilar said he believed there were "other alternatives" to the settlements the board approved.

At the time the board approved the settlement, BISD issued a statement saying trustees took the action "to avoid costly litigation that had a significant potential for damages and attorney's fees far in excess of the settlement," and that BISD took the action in consultation with its employment practices liability insurer and lawyers representing the district.

In other business, the board heard presentations from three firms hoping to provide design-build services to the district on projects to improve its energy efficiency and promote resource conservation. ACR Engineering, Schneider Electric and DMI Entegral Solutions each made five-minute presentations summarizing their qualifications. The board will choose a contractor later.

Also, during the public audience part of the meeting, the board heard about mold concerns at Rivera High School and Skinner Elementary School.

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