Gonzales seeks public hearing on ouster

The hearing on the proposed termination of Superintendent Hector Gonzales will take place in open session Aug. 3-5, attorneys for Gonzales and the BISD Board of Trustees decided Wednesday.

In a pre-hearing conference, the attorneys decided the hearing will take place on Brownsville Independent School District property but did not choose a location, district counsel Mike Saldaña said. Gonzales' attorney, Ruben Peña, said the superintendent's decision to have the hearing in open session "speaks for itself." Gonzales has long maintained he has done nothing that would justify his firing.

The two sides earlier agreed that Texas Education Agency Hearing Examiner Victoria Guerra would preside at the hearing. Guerra's recommendations to the Board of Trustees are due no later than Sept. 11.

Guerra, a McAllen attorney, presided at the 2003 termination hearing of then-superintendent Noe Sauceda, who trustees fired on a 6-0 vote and on Guerra's recommendation.

On Jan. 12 BISD's current board placed Gonzales on administrative leave with pay and ordered an investigation of him and the BISD Special Services Department. By a 4-3 vote, the board hired the Harlingen law firm of Denton, Navarro, Rocha & Bernal, P.C. to conduct the investigation.

And on May 12, the same 4-3 majority proposed Gonzales' termination "for good cause" and hired Navarro to prosecute the case against him. The board said at the time that Gonzales would receive all of the protections afforded him under Chapter 21 of the Texas Education Code.

Gonzales received a letter outlining the allegations against him and appealed to Texas Education Commissioner Robert Scott, who then appointed Guerra as hearing examiner. The two sides agreed to the appointment.

Neither side has said much about the charges against Gonzales. The Brownsville Herald has made pending requests under the Texas Public Information Act for the report by the Navarro law firm about its investigation, as well as Gonzales' termination letter.

A 4-3 majority has prevailed in matters involving Gonzales, with board president Rolando Aguilar and Trustees Joe Colunga, Ruben Cortez Jr. and Rick Zayas voting on one side, and Trustees Dr. Enrique Escobedo, Catalina Presas-Garcia and Minerva Peña on the other.