Abelardo “Abe” Saavedra has been elevated to the position of conservator for the South San Antonio Independent School District under an agreement between the troubled district and the Texas Education Agency to head off a takeover in light of longstanding governance issues.
In a letter to the district sent Tuesday, TEA Commissioner Mike Morath said the action comes after three separate investigations since 2021 relating to governance violations.
Saavedra, who begins as conservator effective immediately, had been serving as a monitor for the district since September 2021. In that role, he gave advice in the form of comments at public meetings and filed monthly progress reports with the TEA.
In his new role, he will have greatly expanded powers to direct the actions of the board, superintendent and campus staff in order to meet a set of goals laid out by the agency following several investigations.
“My goal is that the existing board with the new leadership that came into existence about a month or so back … will continue on the right track,” he told The San Antonio Report. “I think there is five solid board members right now that seem to want the district to go in the right direction.”
He also said he wants to see the board focus more on student issues and outcomes, and less on adult problems and bickering.
While he did not name the trustees, Homer Flores Jr. and Abel Martinez have been the dissenting voices on the board in recent months and clashed with Saavedra in the past.
Saavedra said the entire board will need to work together in order to meet the expectations of the TEA.
According to a copy of the letter, which was sent to Superintendent Henry Yzaguirre and Board President Manuel Lopez, there are five primary directives given to Saavedra in his new role:
Saavedra’s role will include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Directing and overseeing district and board actions in all areas allowed by law.
- Facilitating a needs assessment of the district’s academic, finance and governance
systems. - Conducting onsite inspections during the period of the placement.
- Overseeing and supporting the implementation of a corrective action plan to address deficiencies outlined in the Final Report.
- Participating in and reporting to the agency on the progress toward completing the corrective action plan and all governance activities of the district.
The district will continue to pay Saavedra $85 an hour, plus travel expenses, per TEA policy.
Saavedra served as the superintendent of the district from January 2014 to October 2018 and led the Houston Independent School District from 2004 to 2009.
In the event the district does not meet the goals outlined in the letter over the next 12 months, the board will be ousted and replaced by a board of managers. Under the agreement voted on at a September board meeting, trustees waived the right to appeal that decision. Flores and Martinez both left the meeting before the vote to accept the TEA settlement, which included the appointment of a conservator.
Saavedra said that he is hopeful but not sure whether the board will come together in time.
“It needs to get better with a complete board and not just necessarily a group,” he said. “That’s the real challenge.”
Copies of the monthly reports submitted to the TEA by Saavedra chart the ebbs and flows of dysfunction that ultimately led to the most recent increase in sanctions.
Most of the reports, which were reviewed by the San Antonio Report through an open records request, show that the board is “off track” on exit goals set by the agency when Saavedra was appointed as a monitor, although the last several have noted progress.
One trustee featured prominently in the reports is Martinez, who has become increasingly outspoken in his disapproval of the district administration and has clashed with other board members over issues ranging from the closure of schools to a formal dress code, both of which he opposes.
After the last meeting, Martinez predicted Saavedra would be named as conservator and decried the appointment — saying the dysfunction would not be cured by working with the same person.
Martinez also predicted that the closure of West Campus, which has been a flash point on the board leading to months of infighting, will be among the first directives of Saavedra.
When asked, Saavedra said that he wanted to see how the board handles the West Campus matter, but added that the issue was contributing to the district’s ballooning budget deficit.
The real work will need to be done by the trustees in the coming months, he said.
“The conservator will be there to redirect them if needed,” he said. “If and when that happens, that simply means the board itself isn’t in the right direction.”
