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The board of trustees for the Edgewood Independent School District voted 6-1 Monday evening to censure one of their own for a second time.
The resolution adopted by the board Monday said it was sanctioning trustee Michael Valdez because he had violated board policy by speaking to journalists about the arrest of a parent activist during Edgewood’s August board meeting.
Specifically, the board resolution said Valdez violated board operating procedures and board ethics by speaking negatively about the superintendent and the district policy chief outside the boardroom, and by “fail(ing) to notify the media that his comments to the media were being made in his individual capacity.”
The resolution took issue with two quotes Valdez said to reporters on August 20: “that he believes the superintendent and district police chief planned the arrest before the meeting,” and that “there’s either no communication or the wrong person is leading this district and controlling our board meetings.”
“It is in board operating procedure and policy: Myself and (Edgewood Superintendent) Dr. H are the only representatives, unless we appoint someone else for us. And Mike was not appointed as our news rep after that meeting,” said Edgewood Board President James Hernandez during board discussion of the resolution.
Newly elected trustees Sergio Delgado Jr. and Rudy Lopez also said Valdez should have known not to talk to reporters because they knew better despite only being on the board 10 months.
“Believe me, the night that the incident took place, I got multiple calls from the media that it was not my place to represent the district that way, I knew that we needed to reach out to our board president and our superintendent, and they are our spokespersons,” Lopez said.
However, Valdez maintains that he has a right to speak to reporters as an individual — a right he exercised again after being sanctioned Monday.
“I don't regret speaking (to reporters) at all,” Valdez said after the board meeting. “It's speaking out on what I feel is right, calling out injustices, just being a person, just being a community advocate.”
Valdez said that unless he says he’s speaking for the board, it should be understood that he's speaking as an individual.
“I spoke to many media (after the arrest), but I don't say that I'm speaking on behalf of the Edgewood school board. That's not a quote that I say,” Valdez said.
When school board members tell TPR they are speaking individually, TPR does not normally include that in its reporting unless it is needed for clarity.
Edgewood’s superintendent and board president did not make themselves available for interview after the board meeting, and the resolution did not state which media outlet Valdez was being sanctioned for speaking to. Valdez thought it might have been TV station KENS 5, however the quotes cited in the resolution also appeared in an article published in San Antonio Express-News on August 20.
Twenty people signed up to speak during the board’s public comments, with all but three speaking in support of Valdez. Most speakers said Valdez was the only board member who listened to the community and advocated on their behalf.
“As a board member, Mr. Valdez not only represents students, teachers, staff and administration, he also represents residents of Edgewood ISD, who have the right to know why Edgewood ISD chose to use these tactics that they did with Ms. Gardea,” said Leticia Sanchez during public comments. “We're all witnessing the loss of our rights as citizens at the federal and state level, but we have not lost our right to express our thoughts and opinions and to question. Both actions: arresting Ms. Gardea, and moving to sanction Mr. Valdez, are violations of our First Amendment rights, and Edgewood ISD as an institution of education should know better than to trample on our citizens right to freedom of expression.”
Two of the three people who spoke in favor of sanctioning Valdez were former Edgewood board members who first joined the board as part of the state-appointed board of managers in 2016. One of the former board members, Stella Camacho, questioned whether the other speakers truly represented the concerns of the community.
“The loudest voices are not always the correct voices,” Camacho said.
Edgewood trustees previously voted to censure Valdez in January 2024 what the board said was rude and unprofessional behavior. The first censure did not include sanctions, but the second censure Monday did.
According to the resolution adopted by the board, Valdez violated board policy by:
-speaking in an official capacity outside the boardroom without prior authorization of the board (by not either directing media inquiries to the board president or the superintendent or saying that he was speaking as an individual).
-making negative comments about the superintendent and district police chief outside the boardroom. (The resolution said trustees are prohibited from speaking to the media about personnel “or other matters protected by law” and from “speaking negatively about the superintendent or staff in the community.)”
Valdez’s sanctions include being:
- removed as a delegate to the Texas school board association conference later this month
- “declared ineligible for election as a board officer” this year or next year
- “declared ineligible for EISD-related travel”
- removed from all school board committees
- “directed to obtain additional training” on “governance and ethics” by October
Edgewood Board President James Hernandez also said Valdez should have known sanctions were coming because he had been sent five warning letters, and that Valdez has cost the district money.
"It's been over $150,000 in legal fees that's been due from grievances from our Edgewood staff on the way that Michael has treated them, as well as third party representation that has been asked by Mr. Valdez that we've given to him," Hernandez said.
Valdez said it was the board's decision to spend that much money pursuing investigations and sanctions against him.
"The warnings that came from the board president, the old board president, and the superintendent, I think they're just coming in a form of retaliation for speaking up and really being an advocate in my role as a trustee," Valdez said.
Texas school boards do not have the authority to remove one of their own from elected office. Valdez was elected to the Edgewood school board in 2022, the same year he graduated from high school.
