SAN ANTONIO – The Texas Education Agency on Tuesday notified the Harlandale Independent School District that it plans to remove Superintendent Reynaldo Madrigal and the school board and lower the district's accreditation status to accredited-warned.
TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said In a letter the actions are being taken following an investigation that revealed violations related to contracting practices, contract procurement, nepotism and the Open Meetings Act.
"Given the critical nature of the findings, I am appointing a board of managers to the district to exercise the powers and duties of the district's board of trustees," the letter said.
A new superintendent will be appointed and a conservator will be assigned to oversee the financial management of the district, among other duties.
School board president Ricardo Moreno issued the following statement regarding TEA's decisions:
"The District has only recently received the notice by TEA and has not had the opportunity to thoroughly review it. But I can say the district will continue to move forward with educating students and supporting their needs. Also, we will set a board meeting for next week to allow the board the ability to address the TEA notice and what appropriate measures to take next. We intend to exhaust all levels of this process so that the community knows and is aware of the progress that has been made by the district these last few years and I look forward as board president in helping this progress to continue."