Brownsville ISD has until Aug. 15 to appoint temporary trustee

Erasmo Castro

Now that a May 3 election is off the table, the Brownsville Independent School District Board of Trustees has until Aug. 15 to appoint a temporary trustee to fill the seat held by former board president Erasmo Castro Jr., who died Feb. 15 of pancreatic cancer.

Under state law, that person will serve until the next regularly scheduled BISD election, which is in November 2026.

Sections 11.59 and 11.60 of the Texas Education Code require the board to fill the vacancy within 180 days, either by election or appointment, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office website.

By a 4-3 vote on Friday the board decided not to call an election for May 3, the only remaining date on the state’s election calendar that falls within the 180-day window.

The next date, Nov. 4, falls outside the 180-day window, meaning that whoever is appointed will serve until BISD’s next regularly scheduled election

Board President Daniella Lopez Valdez said 26 people, “many of them very qualified,” submitted applications for the position.

All but one of the applicants remain under consideration for the position after Brownsville attorney John Shergold withdrew his name during the public comments period of Friday’s meeting

“I changed my mind. I’m going to take the high road. I’m going to ask that the board do the same and let the taxpayers and the parents and the teachers and the people that live within the BISD district vote who they want to sit on that seat up there. That’s what a democracy is. That’s what should happen,” Shergold said from the lectern in the BISD boardroom.

“Therefore, I will not seek, nor will I accept a nomination or appointment to your board. Please remove my name,” Shergold added.

Monday morning, Lopez Valdez said the board will now have the remainder of the time before Aug. 15 to decide the path forward to make the appointment

“The goal of the board always is to build consensus for the best outcome of he district, for the good of the students,” she said.

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