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The Texas Education Agency announced Thursday that it has fired the democratically elected La Jolla Independent School District Board of Education and appointed a new superintendent after investigating the district's former leadership over allegations of fraud and conflicts of interest. did.
TEA announces the appointment of seven Hidalgo County residents to replace previous school board members and temporarily serve as “Board of Trustees” for La Jolla ISD, which serves approximately 24,000 students in the Rio Grande Valley. did.
The agency also named Marcy Sorensen as its new director. The TEA was only required to change the district's school board, but it has decided to install a new superintendent to ensure productive leadership going forward, the agency said.
A new board will start soon. The TEA Commissioner determines the term of the Board of Directors.
A TEA investigation found that the school board spent $38 million last year installing LED lighting on school campuses, but the contract to install that lighting involved millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks. It turned out to be part of a criminal conspiracy.
Several trustees and managers pleaded guilty last year to federal charges including theft, bribery, money laundering, extortion and wire fraud.
La Jolla ISD did not respond to requests for comment.
A 2021 Texas law requires the TEA to take over oversight and operations of a school district if the school district fails academically, abuses its power or is financially mismanaged. Usually this type of acquisition lasts from 2 to 6 years.
This is the second school district taken over by the state last year. On June 1, TEA officially appointed a new school board and superintendent for the Houston Independent School District.
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