Donna school board scores second state award nomination

Seen from left to right in this undated photo are Donna school district officials including: Jose R. Reyna, vice president; Eva Castillo Watts, board member; Dr. Maricela Valdez, board member; Dr. Angela Dominguez, superintendent; Dr. Daniel King, Region One Education Service Center executive director; Fernando Castillo, president; Ida M. Garcia, secretary; Jose L. Valdez, board member and Eloy Avila, board member. (Courtesy: Donna ISD/Facebook)

The Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) has named the Donna ISD school board as one of five 2024 Honor School Boards, making them a finalist for the title of Texas Outstanding School Board.

The program recognizes school boards for commitment and service that has made a positive impact on Texas public schools.

The 2023-24 Donna school board is led by President Fernando Castillo alongside Vice President Jose Rogelio Reyna, Secretary Ida M. Garcia and members Eloy Avila, Jose L. Valdez, Dr. Maricela Valdez and Eva Castillo Watts.

The five honor boards were selected by a committee of Texas superintendents. The selection committee’s decisions were based on criteria that include support for educational performance, support for educational improvement projects, commitment to a code of ethics, and supportive relationships among board members.

“I am so proud of our trustees,” Superintendent Angela Dominguez said. “They go through a lot of training and development and people don’t realize this is an unpaid role and they invest a lot of time in preparation.”

This is the board’s second nomination for a state award as they were named state finalists for the 2024 H-E-B Excellence in Education Outstanding School Board Award.

Also being named the 2024 Outstanding School Board of the Year by the Region One Education Center, Castillo said it is an honor for the school board to receive these recognitions.

“This is kind of like a combination of two different entities who have state school administrators … then you have (an entity with) school boards as well and to us, it’s a big honor,” he added. “It speaks volumes of how our board is working together and how our goals and vision are the same.”

Castillo said the team of board members and Dominguez might disagree at times but at the end of the day, they all work together for the best outcomes for students.

“I really see that it’s made a big difference,” Castillo said. “Because we are working collaboratively with our superintendent who has that vision and goal for student success at all levels, we can’t just talk about it but you have to have evidence.”

Donna ISD administration offices on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022, in Donna. (Joel Martinez | jmartinez@themonitor.com)

TASA states on their website that the School Board Awards Committee was impressed by the early childhood initiatives put in place by the Donna ISD school board.

In May, Donna ISD’s M. Rivas Primary Discovery Academy won the H-E-B Excellence in Education Early Childhood Award.

The academy focuses on students from pre-K through second grade through dual language classroom instruction and multiple hands-on activities.

“As a district, we’re about 57% ESL and bilingual,” Castillo said. “We have some elementaries that are as high as 77%, where their first language is Spanish. We had to capitalize on that. That’s one thing we’re doing district-wide and the outcomes are phenomenal.”

The School Board Awards Committee also noted how fiscally responsible the board is and how well board members maximize opportunities despite limited resources.

The board will be interviewed on Sept. 27 at the TASA convention in San Antonio where one board will be named the Texas Outstanding School Board.

The post Donna school board scores second state award nomination appeared first on MyRGV.com.