Fort Bend school trustees cleared in report by TEA (from the Chron)-

Fort Bend school trustees cleared in report by TEA

Some members had complained 3 colleagues ignored chain of command

By ERIC HANSON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

SUGAR LAND - Complaints that some Fort Bend Independent School District trustees bypassed channels to deal directly with school staff members have been found by a state agency to be unsubstantiated.

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In November, the Texas Education Agency released a preliminary report saying four of nine allegations were substantiated. But after further investigation, including interviews with several board members, the agency reversed its findings.

"The issuance of the (report) concludes the agency's investigation of the district's school governance matters," Ernest Zamora, TEA associate commissioner, said in a statement.

Bypassed channels

In September, two trustees and a former board member sent letters to the TEA raising complaints about the actions of three colleagues.
They said that trustees routinely heard grievances from teachers and citizens without requiring those persons to go through the chain of command.

Other complaints were that two trustees requested confidential student information from two schools, two trustees visited a campus to counsel an employee who was having trouble with the human resources department and that two trustees went to an associate superintendent to negotiate a construction contract.

The agency's final report, dated Jan. 6, came as no surprise to school trustee Stan Magee, one of the members who was the subject of the probe.

"The allegations were all baseless, without merit, highly suspect and I am very surprised that the TEA even bothered to get involved in making a judgement call in areas that were governed by our own board operating procedures," Magee said Friday.

Power shift

The allegations were made in the midst of a shift in power on the school board
Magee, along with board president Lisa Rickert, and trustees Ken Bryant and Laurie Caldwell have differed with other trustees, Bruce Bain, Cynthia Knox and Sue Hauenstein on a number of issues.

Bain, Knox and former board member Jane Clarke complained to the TEA about Rickert, Magee and Bryant.

Rickert, Bryant and Caldwell all said they were pleased the TEA had found the allegations to be unsubstantiated.

"We are happy with the decision, but that is peppered with the idea that all this was needless," Bryant said.

Bryant said now that the investigation is complete he hopes the board members will concentrate on more vital issues.

Rickert also said she hopes the TEA investigation can be put in the past and that board members can work together for the district's students. . .

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