1. Discussion, consideration and possible action on the censure of Board Member, Erasmo Castro.
Executive Sessiona. Discussion, consideration, and possible action and update on administration's and Board Member's receipt and dissemination of confidential information.
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
The telenovela, some say situation comedy, continues today at the specially-called meeting of the Brownsville Independent School District to be held today at the district's main offices at 5:30 p.m.
The censure of Castro - an exercise in futility without legal complications - is only the second attempt in recent BISD history, with the attempt 2014 attempt to "censure," or "censor" former trustees Caty Presas-Garcia and Lucy Longoria and preventing them from speaking during meetings.
The duo accused the then-board president and the majority of the board for entering a "quid pro quo" with vendors and that they were retaliated against by attempting to muzzle them in violation of their First Amendment rights. It resulted in a federal lawsuit asking for $2 million in damages. It was eventually non-suited in that court.
In Castro's case, the current board majority voted to consider the censure of Castro after a series of incidents that included him being arrested for Driving While Intoxicated and for visiting campuses without prior permission or oversight from the administration which resulted in a complaint by a parent over Castro's posting of a photo of a student without the parent's consent.
The board - after incident - passed new local rules prohibiting these acts. The censure of the trustee over the new rules comes retroactively after their passage.
Ironically, board counsel Baltazar Salazar - who unsuccessfully attempted to expunge three of his own felony case convictions in court - is the same attorney advising the board on the censure just as he did against Presas-Garcia and Longoria. Back then, Salazar went as far as submitting an agenda item to hire outside counsel o remove them from the board. The board wisely tabled the item.
In the Castro case, he is facing a removal action in district court filed by a group of local residents. A group from San Benito also filed for a district court's removal of San Benito CISD Michael Vargas or his arrest on a DWI charge.
The other agenda item deal with the receipt of unspecified confidential information by a board member (unknown) and the BISD administration and its dissemination. Details on the nature of the information are unknown.