Screwed in Tornillo Part 2

Allow me to editorialize for a moment if you will. I saw the news coverage on KVIA and KINT of the issue with Tornillo not having a school nurse in the district. I was floored when I heard the comments of Superintendent Jeannie Mesa-Chavez about the situation.

I'll get to that in a moment, but I wanted to talk about why I did the piece in the first place. I don't have any relatives that live, work, or go to school in Tornillo. So there are plenty of people who probably read what I wrote and said to themselves, "why doesn't he mind his own business?"

I suppose I could, but shouldn't the welfare of kids in our community (and the welfare of tax dollars) be our business? Aside from that, I hate to see the most vulnerable populations have to endure corruption, ineptitude, retaliation, racism, or classism like I've seen in school districts across El Paso county. So community members come to me from time-to-time because they are afraid. They fear retaliation against themselves, their friends, or their families if they rock the boat.

I can assure you after covering school districts in El Paso County for the better part of 7 years now, it ain't easy being the squeaky wheel in a small town. I get nothing out of doing stuff like this but criticism. I damn sure don't make any money out of this. But every once in a while I'll get lucky and a problem gets fixed. Thats why I do this.

There is a palatable culture of fear when it comes to Tornillo ISD.

Now...back to the news coverage.

In the KVIA piece, Dr. Jeannie Mesa-Chavez refused to go on camera. The first question one asks themselves is why? I don't have a good reason why she would give an interview but not go on camera other than perhaps she was embarrassed. But if this is an issue the district has had to deal with for more than a decade, and she's been the superintendent since last year, then this issue shouldn't have blind-sided her.

But fear not Dear Readers! Dr. Mesa-Chavez, who's bio doesn't mention any formal medical training or experience, is going to teach her faculty and staff first aid until they get a nurse on board. Well, I feel so much better now, don't you?

I seriously couldn't believe that was her response. Thats the proactive steps she plans on taking to make the medical situation there better? Please tell me this is all a joke and Ashton Kutcher is going hop out of the bushes with a film crew and tell us we've been Punk'd...

I'll bet money she had the reporter email her the questions in advance too. Anyone wanna take me up on that one?

KINT was able to get an on-camera interview. The KINT piece also had an interview with a community member who mentioned her husband, Dr. Jesus Chavez of Bowie High School infamy, was in nursing school. Dr. Chavez, the wife, said that Dr. Chavez, the husband, nor any of her relatives were interested in the nursing position. There was also a point made about the position requiring a certain amount of experience to be hired as well.

And there's the rub. People have seen case after case of people from EPISD pop up in other school districts. Hell its a problem across the state of Texas where a bad administrator in one part of Texas ends up in another part of Texas. Its like whack-a-mole.

So of course the community is going to be suspicious. Especially since they've all seen Dr. Chavez, the husband, around Tornillo and the very long public thanks Dr. Chavez, the wife, gave Dr. Chavez the husband at the graduation ceremony at the end of last year.

I know, I was there.

Sure, the RN position requires a certain amount of experience, but of all hiring factors that is one of the easiest to overcome. Furthermore, and perhaps more relevant, is the fact that school districts, especially small ones, have a reputation for massaging job requirements out of necessity.

In fact, I'm now inspired. I'll do an open records request to see if any requirements like experience have been massaged, overlooked, modified, etc in order for someone to get hired.

If I can't find a single instance of that happening under Dr Chavez's tenure, I will issue a public apology, never blog again, and get Dr. Chavez's, the wife, not the husband's, name tattooed on my forehead.

Thats how confident I am that I know I'm going to find at least one (if not more) incident like that. Which means that the experience requirement is not really an obstacle.

Hell, I don't really have to look all that far when you think about it. If you refer back to Dr. Chavez's bio, you'll see her experience listed. From what I have been able to find out through some phone calls to EPISD, Dr. Mesa-Chavez doesn't appear to have any experience as an assistant superintendent prior to her selection as superintendent. Although Dr. Lorenzo Garcia did select her to serve as the Director of Secondary Personnel and Recruiting while they were both at EPISD along with Dr. Chavez the husband. But that was a directorship, not time as an assistant superintendent.

I'm not implying that she doesn't have the qualifications for the position, is incapable of serving as the superintendent, or lacks the educational background. I think she is good to go on all accounts. Except for the fact that I'll bet that the school board passed over other candidates that had assistant superintendent experience in favor of Dr. Mesa-Chavez. In fact I know they did. I  know that because the valley is a small place and administrators frequently apply at different school districts and like I said earlier, I've been doing this a long time.

The reality is that its hard for the outlying school districts to attract good talent. Its competitive out there. You have to offer perks to get people to come out. Hell, Ysleta used to give their superintendent a house to live in remember? (Search my blog, I wrote about that a few years ago too).

Its not an impossible situation to overcome and not an excuse to not fill the position.

The point is that its unacceptable that the district has gone so long without an RN. The fact that Tornillo is so far from a hospital underscores the necessity of having an RN on staff. If you're having problems getting someone to come all the way out to Tornillo to work, then there are common-sense solutions to that issue.

Pay a better wage to lure talent to your district. Offer perks like mileage or flexible work weak, or use of a district vehicle. You're telling me that this has been a problem for 10 years and no one has explored that option?

Not having an RN in the district is a colossal liability to the board and tax payers. They have no leg to stand on if God-forbid, something really bad happens to a student, parent, or faculty member, and the district gets sued.

Dr. Chavez and the Board have an obligation to protect the children under their care. They have an obligation to protect the financial interests of the tax payers of Tornillo ISD.

Parents trust that their kids are safe when they send them to school. The superintendent should make finding a school nurse for the district her top priority.