South San ISD board members are getting ready to rumble at their next meeting this Wednesday night.
Among the agenda items are an evaluation of the interim superintendent (who did not get the permanent job), discussion of allegations of inappropriate behavior against a board member, and possible re-organization of the board leadership.
But that's not all. Also on the agenda is an item to discuss possibly disciplining or firing the executive director of South San's business and finance department. As I first reported last week, David Landeros was slammed in an unreleased audit – but which I obtained nevertheless – for not acting sooner to investigate irregularities in the athletic department's football-game revenue.
Some board members also are targeting Landeros because the district must repay the Texas Education Agency because the state agency overpaid the district $2.5 million. He notified the interim superintendent the money would have to be returned.
Board member Rose Marie Martinez defends Landeros, who she says has been short-staffed. "It's a cash issue – it does not affect the budget," she says of the upcoming repayment.
But board president Connie Prado told me Landeros has enough staff and his office caused the problem by not updating South San's enrollment numbers with the state - and was overpaid. “For a district our size, and for all the work that was put in the cost savings committee, it is significant. It does impact our bottom line. So it was very devastating,” says Prado.
