Hays wasted money by the tens of millions, the most recent case of $30 million wasted on the 2008 bonds. As construction prices plummeted in 2008, by 30 percent or more, Hays simply built more extravagant monuments with larger classrooms with no gain in capacity.
What I’d like to see is the wealth of Hays CISD (property values rise in double digits annually) be more accretive to the taxpayers of Hays CISD and less accretive to the administrators and other HCISD taxpayer dependents.
Five years ago the district employed 14 people in Central Administration. Now it is 46. Only 36 percent live here. Because of surging revenue, administrative salaries have skyrocket and successive superintendents, at our detriment, have run the district as the administrations personal retirement plan.
Hinojosa was hired for $90,000 in 1997. When he left in early 2003, he was at $145,000. London was the $115,000 Supt. from academically challenged Terrell. He was immediately bumped to $145,000 and his wife was given a sweet administrative job too. By 2008, London was making $178,000 base pay plus an annual $10,000 retention bonus, etc.
London “retired” for Teacher Retirement System (TRS) purposes in July 2008 by going off the Hays payroll completely for 30 days. He was “rehired” by Hays on August 1, 2008 and was paid a $10,000 “one-time payment” on August 1, 2008 and he also received $12,000 a month from TRS while receiving his $15,000 monthly Hays salary. The district agreed to pay London $750/day beginning Feb. 1, 2009 for “consulting” as well. His retirement pay is now equal to his original HCISD compensation in 2003!
The district conducted a “nationwide search” and found Dr. Lyon in Oregon. He is from Leander Texas, having left Texas three years prior. Hays agreed to remit $102,000 to TRS to buy back his retirement for the years he lost while out of state. But, they let him keep what he put in and what his employers paid on his behalf while gone.
Unfortunately, these transgressions continue to go unchecked by the school board. The “team of eight” concept is not working.
Bryce Bales
Manchaca
