Texas Commissioner of Education to Consider Employee Complaints against Houston-Area School District

SWEENY, TX (MMD Newswire) March 5, 2015 — In January, the Sweeny Independent School District Board of Trustees considered several complaints filed by Vincent Strother, Sweeny ISD’s Executive Director of Business Services. The complaints, which included nepotism, favoritism, falsification of employee appraisals, retaliation, and inappropriate use of bond funds, were effectively denied and Strother has filed an appeal with the Texas Commissioner of Education.

According to attorney Susan Soto, who was retained to represent Strother, the Texas Education Code allows Strother to appeal to the commissioner if actions or decisions by the Sweeny ISD Board of Trustees violate Texas school laws.

Strother alleges that the school district violated Section 45.001 of the Texas Education Code, which specifies the limited purposes for which a school district board of trustees may issue bonds. Strother presented evidence to the school board in January that bond funds were used to purchase athletic uniforms and other items outside of the scope of the law and without board approval. The SISD Board of Trustees declined to address the issue and Strother has turned to the commissioner for help.

Outside of the commissioner’s jurisdiction, Strother also alleges that SISD superintendent Randy Miksch committed nepotism and favoritism when he placed his son in a leadership position and failed to document or correct the son’s unprofessional conduct, that Miksch violated the Texas Penal Code by tampering with governmental records when he backdated and otherwise authorized subordinates to falsify employee appraisal records, and that Miksch retaliated against Strother for reporting acts of professional and financial misconduct by placing him on administrative leave.

Strother, a product of the Sweeny Independent School District, a volunteer with the school district and an SISD employee, said, “Why is the business director the only individual on administrative leave? The superintendent and his son should be on leave as well, considering the financial bad acts they committed.” He continued, “the only people willing to speak up are former employees. The history of employee oppression, threats to people’s jobs by the superintendent, and the precedent set by the school board to allow these things to take place without repercussions have had a chilling effect on witnesses coming forward.”

Strother noted that when he brought his allegations to the school board’s attention, the trustees asked their own legal counsel to investigate the matter, rather than hire an independent firm to conduct the investigation. “When it’s a matter that may be looked at by an agency like the Texas Education Agency or in a criminal context, organizations generally turn to outside law firms. This investigation was neither fair nor unbiased.”

After Strother’s complaints were heard by the SISD Board of Trustees, the superintendent’s son was demoted. Even though the school district combined the positions of athletic director and head football coach for over 50 years, when the son became the athletic director, the position was split into two. The jobs have since been combined again.

Soto is a former public school teacher and principal and represents Texas school district employees in school law matters. She knows that it is time for school districts in Texas to take responsibility for their actions and decisions. “Taxpayers need to know what is going on in their local school districts,” Soto said. “The era of school districts being beyond question must come to an end.”

CONTACT: SUSAN SOTO 832-831-9936 SUSANSOTOJD@GMAIL.COM

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