- Donna Independent School District
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Donna Independent School District is a public school district based in Donna, Texas (USA).
In addition to Donna, the district also serves portions of Alamo as well as the communities of Muniz, Scissors, and South Alamo.
In 2010, Donna ISD was rated "academically acceptable" by the Texas Education Agency.[1] Donna ISD's total student enrollment for 2010 was 14,873 according to the Texas Education Agency's website. Donna ISD's current superintendent is Roberto Loredo.
Contents
Recent History
On January 24, 2011, a federal judge in McAllen, Texas sentenced the former president of the Board of Trustees of Donna ISD, George Hernandez, to five months in prison, five months of house arrest, three years of probation, and a $3,000 fine for paying thousands of dollars in kickbacks to curry favors from the PSJA school board. Mr. Hernandez had previously pleaded guilty to the criminal charges. [2]
On November 13, 2009, a federal jury awarded $1.2 million to a former superintendent of Donna ISD who was illegally terminated in 2001. Plaintiff's attorney Kevin O'Hanlon described the jury verdict as a message to school districts across Texas to abide by the law and not play politics. Donna ISD's lawyer Eileen Leeds had described the former superintendent's lawsuit as motivated by greed. The federal jury also awarded damages against Donna ISD's former attorneys - lawyer Gustavo Acevedo and Jaime Munoz each to pay $87,750 to plaintiff Andres Martinez for violating his constitutional rights of due process. Both Acevedo and Munoz filed an appeal with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (case no. 10-40352) which was dismissed by the appeals court on May 24, 2010. [3]
In April 2006, the Chief Financial Officer of Donna ISD filed complaints with FBI-McAllen, Texas Education Agency, and Department of Justice regarding widespread corruption, extortion, bribery, theft, and abuse of taxpayer money at Donna ISD. The Texas Education Agency investigated the complaints and issued its final investigative report in 2007 confirming the allegations and forwarding its report to law enforcement agencies for further investigation.[4] As a result of TEA's report, Donna ISD's superintendent Joe D. Gonzalez, the school attorney Jacques Trevino, its Human Resources manager Alfredo Salinas, and its assistant superintendent Nereida "Nellie" Cantu were fired by the school district. Due to the complaints by TEA regarding Donna ISD's dealings with Integrity Communications of Corpus Christi, the Federal Government withheld millions of dollars of technology grants to the school district.[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]
Schools
High schools
- Grades 10-12
- Donna High School
- Grade 9
- W.A. Todd 9th Grade Campus
Middle schools
- Grades 6-8
- A.P. Solis Middle School
- Veterans Middle School
- Sauceda Middle School
Elementary schools
- Grades PK-5
- A.M. Ochoa Elementary School
- C. Stainke Elementary School
- Captain D. Salinas II Elementary School
- Daniel Singleterry Sr. Elementary School
- Eloy Salazar Elementary School
- Guzman Elementary School
- J.W. Caceres Elementary School
- LeNoir Elementary School
- M. Rivas Elementary School
- Maria Alicia P. Munoz Elementary School
- Patricia S. Garza Elementary School
- Runn Elementary School
- T. Price Elementary School
Julian S. Adame Elementary School
Additional schools
- 3D Academy— a credit-recovery school for students who didn't graduate with their cohort
- DAEP— the alternative campus
References
- ^ "2010 Accountability Rating". Texas Education Agency. http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/2010/index.html.
- ^ "PSJA Bribery Scandal". The Monitor, January 24, 2011, "More than 3 years later, sentences ranging from probation to prison time for players in PSJA school bribery scandal". http://themonitor.com/articles/later-46518-years-ranging.html.
- ^ "Donna Pays $1.2 Million to Former Superintendent". The Monitor, November 13, 2009, "Jury awards $1.2 million to former Donna schools superintendent". http://themonitor.com/articles/million-32570-awards-schools.html.
- ^ "TEA Final Investigative Report Concerning Donna School District". Scribd.com. http://www.scribd.com/doc/17682818/20070718-Donna-ISD-Report.
- ^ "Newspaper Article Concerning Removal of Donna School District Officials". The Monitor. http://www.themonitor.com/news/school-3773-board-donna.html.
- ^ "Newspaper Article Concerning Shake up at Donna ISD following financial scandal". Mid-Valley Town Crier. http://www.midvalleytowncrier.com/news/board-308-gonzalez-district.html.
- ^ "Newspaper Article About Donna School District Under Federal Investigation". Mid-Valley Town Crier. http://www.midvalleytowncrier.com/news/donna-509-school-district.html.
- ^ "Article Donna ISD under investigation for E-Rate violations". Funds for Learning. http://www.fundsforlearning.com/content/view/1005/89.
- ^ "Newspaper Article About Long ties between ex-super and Corpus Christi firm". The Monitor. http://www.themonitor.com/news/donna-4222-school-gonzalez.html.
- ^ "Newspaper Article About "Jobs for Votes" Culture in Donna Schools". The Monitor. http://www.themonitor.com/news/school-3939-district-board.html.
- ^ "Whistleblower Lawsuit against Donna ISD". Thirteenth Court of Appeals-Corpus Christi. http://www.13thcoa.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/case.asp?FilingID=18624.
External links
Categories:- School districts in Hidalgo County, Texas
- School districts in Texas
- Grades 10-12
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