McAllen ISD escapes embarrassment
Tue, 2016-08-09 22:44
News Staff
New supe voted in 5-0
By G. Romero Wendorf
The McAllen ISD Board of Trustees can breathe a sigh of relief after voting 5-0 last Thursday during a special called meeting to finalize the hiring of Jose “Jay” Gonzalez as the district’s new superintendent to the tune of $195,000 (base pay).
Now, the district won’t have to carry the stigma of having a superintendent in place who was given the job without the full approval of the board.
Last month, the board voted 4-3 when it came time to name the district’s sole finalist for the job of superintendent. Gonzalez got the nod.
Trustees Johnathan Ball, Larry Esparza, and Danny Vela constituted the dissenters.
After the vote, they made public comments that indicated they would support the board majority decision, but no one really knew what might happen when the time came to finalize Gonzalez’s choice as full-time superintendent.
Since the former superintendent, James Ponce, suddenly resigned last February, and after McAllen posted its job opening, the school board had considered 28 applicants and interviewed six candidates on July 5-6 before the board majority named Gonzalez its top choice, 4-3.
Had that 4-3 vote held sway last week, McAllen ISD would have been one of the very, very few school districts that had hired a superintendent without the full support of the board.
According to four Valley school superintendents this newspaper spoke to last week, all of whom asked that they be allowed to speak on condition of anonymity, including one of whom who has experience working as a superintendent in