A.J.

Crabill
Texas Education Agency
Deputy Commissioner of Governance
Complaints, Investigations & Enforcement
William B. Travis Building
1701 N. Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas 78701
RE:

July 15, 2016

West Oso ISD School Governance Complaint

Dear Mr. A.J. Crabill:

After careful thought and consideration, we have decided to seek
out your assistance in resolving some critical matters facing our
school district, West Oso ISD. As members of the WOISD Board of
Trustees, we have a strong desire to provide a quality educational
program that benefits ALL students by working together with the
superintendent as a team of eight. We acknowledge that our school
board is the policy-making body of the school system and as school
board members, we have placed the daily operations of the school
system in the hands of our superintendent and her administrative
staff. However, in recent months, it has become very apparent that
several of our board members have overstepped their boundaries
and have deviated from their roles and responsibilities in leading
and supporting the leadership staff at West Oso ISD, and have
instead resorted to micromanaging of staff and using hostile tactics
and intimidation towards staff to further their personal agendas.
Continuous micromanagement by certain board members in the
day-to-day operations of our school district has created obstacles for
staff as they try to fulfill their duties. Certain board members have
knowingly and clearly violated the chain of command protocol. In
fact, individual board members have tried to solve problems for
constituents by promising certain outcomes and divulging
confidential matters privy to the board, which in turn create major
obstacles for the superintendent and administrative staff in fulfilling
their duties and responsibilities.
We believe the alleged violations include the following:

 Micromanagement by certain members of the West Oso ISD

Board of Trustees and the use of their position to advance
personal agendas and target staff
Board members created an environment of fear and
intimidation within the school system including the continuous
harassment of the superintendent and administration during
the school day and during school board meetings by certain
school board members
Failure of the board to set performance goals for the
superintendent to guide the direction of the district, yet
unjustifiably holding the superintendent accountable for the
boards lack of setting clear expectations (Board President
cancelled 3 trainings with Diana Freeman, TASB consultant)
Despite our boards inaction, our district has managed to meet
and exceed state accountability standards and improved the
overall performance of our students.
A lack of commitment by certain board members to follow
board policies and procedures and selectively ignoring the
application of these policies for certain staff
Board President, Lucas Jasso, and other board members
attempting to use contracted personnel for personal agendas
to target specific school employees (as evidenced by letters of
complaint
filed
against
board
members
with
the
superintendent)
We understand that district staff members have previously filed
complaints with TEA against a specific board member, Ms. Liz
Gutierrez, for her tendency to micromanage and create a hostile
work environment for district staff. As per prior recommendations
by TEA, we as board members should have participated in required
trainings to ensure that we are conforming to the code of ethics for
board members and Board Policy. The intent of these trainings was
to reinforce teambuilding and creating a vision for the district. Even
though these trainings took place, specific board members failed to
attend the trainings as required.
We are requesting that TEA conduct an independent investigation of
these violations. We believe that an onsite review with community
members, district personnel and board members will confirm several
issues concerning board member unprofessionalism towards staff
and continuous attempts to micromanage school staff. Among
those issues, we are certain you will find board member interference
2

with personnel decisions made by the superintendent and attempts

to coerce her into hiring certain individuals related to board member
friends for positions in the district. All this turmoil has created
conflict and controversy within the district and the community and
has tarnished the districts image and credibility that we have
worked diligently to improve over the last five years.
We feel that this continued drama by specific board members has
created such hostility and animosity among board members, that it
is clearly evident to district staff and community members during
board meetings. These recent board meetings have resulted in
community members expressing their concerns regarding the lack of
civility and professionalism amongst us. The most recent
controversial incident was the posting of a special called meeting to
consider the buy out of the superintendents contract. The board
presidents handling of this matter was of utmost disrespect and
unprofessionalism towards several board members who were
unaware of his hidden agenda or of the special called meeting until
the last minute. This recent matter has further diminished our staff
and communitys confidence in our school systems governance and
has clearly damaged the board-superintendent relations possibly
beyond repair.
We are respectfully requesting that the Texas Education Agency
assist us at this very critical time and intervene on behalf of our
students, staff, and community members before it is too late. We
believe that we must work cooperatively to establish a culture that
promotes effective governance and supports the professional
operations of our district for the benefit of our most important
constituents, our children.
We understand that is incumbent upon us to create an environment
that unites all stakeholders in order to move forward in
accomplishing the mission and vision of our school system. Based
on the serious concerns with our board leadership, we have no
alternative but to respectfully request immediate intervention by
TEA.
We understand the serious ramifications of our complaint and plead
for immediate intervention. We are prepared to provide you with
specific documentation and witness statements to corroborate every
allegation we have discussed in this letter.
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Please contact us at your earliest convenience to further discuss this

grave matter and review our options.

Sincerely,

Martha Ruiz
Board Vice-President
(361) 877-2307

Velma Rodriguez
Board Member
(361) 215-1201