Resignation letter reveals assistant superintendent took ‘full responsibility’ for Harlingen CISD’s financial problems

AUSTIN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — After more than two months of legal wrangling, the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District released former Assistant Superintendent Ramon Mendoza’s resignation letter on Friday.

Mendoza abruptly resigned in August, when Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez discovered major financial problems at Harlingen CISD.

“I did not perform my job well, to say the least,” Mendoza wrote on Aug. 26, when he resigned. “We overspent on various items and I was not a good steward of the HCISD funds. I assure you nothing was done maliciously or with any other intent. This is a business and I take full responsibility.”

Harlingen CISD, however, allowed Mendoza to rescind his resignation — and held Gonzalez accountable for the district’s financial problems.

“It is the responsibility of the Superintendent to be aware of all matters pertaining to District operations and to keep the Board informed of significant issues as they arise, and fiscal matters are no exception,” Harlingen CISD said in a statement released in October. “It would be expected that the District’s financial status should be a chief concern of the Superintendent as a steward of the resources of our District.”

While he took responsibility, Gonzalez said that Mendoza transferred millions of dollars from the district’s fund balance without informing him.

“I had 0 knowledge that Ramon Mendoza (HCISD Assistant Superintendent for Business Operations) was moving money from the fund balance to the general operating account to cover costs,” Gonzalez wrote in a text message to members of the school board on Sept. 3. “Ramon placed all budget amendments on consent agenda without informing me where funds were coming from and all transactions were board approved.”

Gonzalez said he asked Mendoza for weekly updates on Harlingen CISD’s fund balance.

“Every Monday at senior team meeting Ramon Mendoza told us our fund balance was at 2 1/2 months of operating expenditures,” Gonzalez wrote in the text message.

Harlingen CISD, though, had actually transferred money from the fund balance to pay for school buses, security services, and other expenses.

“Ramon Mendoza being relieved of his duties by accepting his resignation and the district being honest to the community would have been the right thing to do,” Gonzalez wrote in the text message.

Instead, according to Gonzalez, the district forced him to resign.

“This is so wrong,” Gonzalez wrote in the text message, “and I hope that you never have to experience what I am currently going through individually and as a family.”

Harlingen CISD also fought to keep Mendoza’s resignation letter from becoming public.

In Texas, resignation letters submitted by government employees are generally subject to release under the state Public Information Act.

Harlingen CISD claimed that Mendoza’s resignation letter should be covered by an exception for highly intimate or embarrassing information that is not of legitimate concern to the public.

“Such private information about a person’s private affairs and conduct is both highly intimate and embarrassing, especially concerning the CFO’s mistakes,” according to a letter that attorney Kayla G. Treviño, who represents Harlingen CISD, wrote to the Attorney General’s Office on Nov. 4. 

Attorney Joseph R. Larsen of Houston, an expert on the Public Information Act, said the district’s argument was laughable.

“As far as not performing his job well: Are you kidding me? Is this some kind of a joke?" Larsen told CBS 4 News in November. “Obviously, his capacity, his performance, is of legitimate public interest.”

The Attorney General’s Office agreed.

“Upon review, we find you have not demonstrated any of the submitted information is highly intimate or embarrassing and not of legitimate public concern,” according to a ruling the Attorney General’s Office released on Jan. 8.

A law firm that represents Harlingen CISD released the resignation letter at 11:07 p.m. Friday, nine days after the ruling.

Asked whether Harlingen CISD agreed with the ruling, the district released a statement.

“The district complies with (sic) Attorney General’s determination,” according to the statement released by Harlingen CISD, “and does not take a stance on whether or not the information requested is subject to disclosure.”

Mendoza, who retired from Harlingen CISD on Dec. 20, couldn’t be reached for comment.