Agenda and minutes
Regular meeting, 25 June 2026
Thursday 25 June 2026, 6:00 p.m. to 8:44 p.m.
The board filled the Place 2 vacancy left by the May resignation, a district judge swore the new trustee in the same evening, and the secretary declared an interest and abstained on the consent agenda — all of it on the record, by name.
- Where
- Manuel Guerra Building, Roma ISD Administration, 608 North Garcia Street, Roma, Texas 78584
- Presiding
- Board President Mary Lou G. Cruz presiding
- Quorum
- Five trustees present, one absent, one seat vacant. President Cruz determined that a quorum was present, that the meeting had been duly called, and that notice of the agenda had been legally posted under Chapter 551.
- Recorded votes
- 11
- Signed
- Mary Lou G. Cruz, President · Karina Mascorro, Secretary
Where this came from
This is the district's own record, not a reconstruction. The agenda was read as text from the district's BoardBook posting; the minutes are published only as a scan of paper with no text in it, so they were recovered by character recognition and then read against the image line by line. Both of the district's own documents are linked at the foot of this page.
Notice
Posted Friday 19 June 2026 at 3:45 p.m. — 146 hours and 15 minutes before the meeting. Texas Government Code § 551.043 requires at least 72 hours. This notice ran to twice that.
Where it was posted
- The district's BoardBook page, where the notice, the agenda and later the minutes were posted.
How the evening ran
- 6:00 p.m. — called to order
- 8:44 p.m. — adjourned
Who was there
| Trustee | Attendance | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Lou G. Cruz | Present | — |
| Yadira A. Barrera | Absent | — |
| Karina Mascorro | Present | Abstained on the consent agenda — see item 5. |
| Jaime Escobar | Present | — |
| Iv Garza, Jr. | Present | Gave the invocation. |
| Jesus Rios, Jr. | Present | Led the Pledge of Allegiance. |
| Abel Villarreal, Jr. | Sworn in during the meeting | Appointed to Place 2 at this meeting and sworn in during it. Not present for the vote that appointed him. |
The agenda, item by item
1 Roll call, invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance
Five trustees present; Trustee Yadira A. Barrera absent; Place 2 vacant. Invocation by Trustee Iv Garza, Jr. Pledge of Allegiance led by Trustee Jesus Rios, Jr.
Transcribed from the district's own minutes, which are published only as a scan of paper with no text in it. The scan is linked at the foot of this page; this text was read against it.
2 Public comment
Who spoke
- Rose Benavides · · · spoke in English
Recorded in the minutes by name. The minutes record who spoke; they do not record what was said, so nothing is put in her mouth here.
- Rose Benavides · · · spoke in English
3 Appointment to fill the Place 2 vacancy on the Board of Trustees
In plain language
The seat left empty when the president resigned in May. State law lets a school board fill a vacancy by appointment rather than call a special election, and this board did.
The board president presented the item. The vote was taken with five trustees — the sixth was absent and the seat itself was the vacancy.
Main motion · Carried
To appoint Mr. Abel Villarreal, Jr. to fill the Place 2 vacancy on the Board of Trustees.
Moved by Iv Garza, Jr. · seconded by Jesus Rios, Jr.
Unanimous · Roll call at 18:14
Vote on the appointment to Place 2 Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Seat vacant Result All seats Motion carried 5–0. 4 Officer's statement and oath of office
Judge Ramiro Guillen administered the officer's statement to the newly appointed trustee, and then administered the oath or affirmation of office to Mr. Abel Villarreal, Jr. Both are required of a Texas public officer before assuming the duties of the office — the anti-bribery statement under Article XVI § 1(b) of the Texas Constitution, and the oath under § 1(a).
5 Consent agenda
- Department
- Business & Finance
In plain language
Nine routine reports, adopted in one vote. Note the abstention: a trustee declared an interest in one of the vendors and the minutes record it by name and by company.
Minutes of the special called meeting of 8 May and the regular meeting of 27 May; the bills; the investment report for May and April 2026; the financial update for May 2026; the electricity report; the transportation report of petrol and diesel usage for May 2026 against May 2025 and April 2026; the tax collection report for May 2026; the fixed assets report for May 2026; and the student enrolment report.
Main motion · Carried
To approve the minutes of 8 May and 27 May, the bills, the investment report, the financial update report, the electricity report, the transportation report, the tax collection report, the fixed assets report and the student enrolment report as presented.
Moved by Abel Villarreal, Jr. · seconded by Iv Garza, Jr.
Unanimous, with an abstention · Roll call at 18:41
Vote on the consent agenda Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Abstained1 Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0, with one abstention recorded. 1 The minutes record it in these words: “Abstained: Mrs. Karina Mascorro from Flower Baking Company.” A trustee with a substantial interest in a business that does business with the district must declare it and abstain — Local Government Code Chapter 171. The declaration is the point: it is on the record, by name, in the same document as the vote.
6 Student and staff recognition
A) Texas State Solo and Ensemble outstanding performers, presented by Mr. Mireles. B) Roma ISD retirees, presented by their respective supervisors.
7 Project update — school construction projects
Presentation only. No motion, no vote — and the minutes still record the roll, so the record shows who was in the room when it was presented.
8 Renewal of the online assessment tool used to monitor student growth
Main motion · Carried
To approve the renewal of the online assessment tool used to monitor and measure student growth throughout their course of study, as presented.
Moved by Karina Mascorro · seconded by Jesus Rios, Jr.
Unanimous · Roll call at 18:52
Vote on the assessment tool renewal Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0. 9 New library books, under Senate Bill 13, after 30 days of public review
In plain language
Texas Senate Bill 13 (88th Legislature) requires a district to post a list of library material it intends to acquire and leave it open to the public for 30 days before the board may approve it. The board approved this list at the end of that window.
Main motion · Carried
To approve the new library books in compliance with Senate Bill 13, following 30 days of review by the public.
Moved by Iv Garza, Jr. · seconded by Abel Villarreal, Jr.
Unanimous · Roll call at 18:58
Vote on the library acquisitions Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0. 10 Renewal of the FADEZ Barber School LLC contract for 2026-2027
In plain language
A career and technical education contract: students earn barbering hours toward a state licence while still in high school.
Main motion · Carried
To approve the renewal of the FADEZ Barber School LLC contract for the 2026-2027 school year.
Moved by Jaime Escobar · seconded by Abel Villarreal, Jr.
Unanimous · Roll call at 19:05
Vote on the FADEZ Barber School contract Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0. 11 Renewal of student athletic accident insurance for 2026-2027
Main motion · Carried
To approve the renewal of the student athletic accident insurance for the 2026-2027 school year.
Moved by Jesus Rios, Jr. · seconded by Iv Garza, Jr.
Unanimous · Roll call at 19:11
Vote on athletic accident insurance Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0. 12 Purchase of an air compressor, bus lifts and other transportation shop equipment
In plain language
The equipment that lets the district's own mechanics lift a bus. A district that cannot lift its own buses sends them out.
Main motion · Carried
To approve the purchase of an air compressor, bus lifts and other equipment needed for the transportation shop.
Moved by Karina Mascorro · seconded by Jaime Escobar
Unanimous · Roll call at 19:19
Vote on the transportation shop equipment Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0. 13 Purchase of the Ramiro Barrera Middle School football stadium lights
Main motion · Carried
To approve the purchase of the Ramiro Barrera Middle School football stadium lights.
Moved by Abel Villarreal, Jr. · seconded by Iv Garza, Jr.
Unanimous · Roll call at 19:28
Vote on the stadium lights Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0. 14 Installation of two HVAC units at the Roma ISD Veterans Hall
Main motion · Carried
To approve the installation of two HVAC units for the Roma ISD Veterans Hall.
Moved by Karina Mascorro · seconded by Abel Villarreal, Jr.
Unanimous · Roll call at 19:36
Vote on the Veterans Hall HVAC units Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0. 15 Superintendent's report — preliminary assessment scores
Report only, by Mrs. Diana Salinas. These are the preliminary numbers that became the district's A with a score of 92 when the state released the 2025-2026 accountability ratings on 17 August.
16 Employment and resignation of professionals and paraprofessionals
Presented by Superintendent Mr. Carlos M. Gonzalez, Jr.
Main motion · Carried
To approve the employment and resignation of professionals and paraprofessionals as presented.
Moved by Jaime Escobar · seconded by Karina Mascorro
Unanimous · Roll call at 20:38
Vote on employment and resignations Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0. 17 Adjournment
There being no further business. The meeting was adjourned at 8:44 p.m.
Main motion · Carried
To adjourn the meeting.
Moved by Abel Villarreal, Jr. · seconded by Jesus Rios, Jr.
Unanimous · Roll call at 20:44
Vote to adjourn Trustee Office Vote Mary Lou G. Cruz President Yes Yadira A. Barrera Vice-President Absent Karina Mascorro Secretary Yes Jaime Escobar Trustee Yes Iv Garza, Jr. Trustee Yes Jesus Rios, Jr. Trustee Yes Abel Villarreal, Jr. Place 2 Yes Result All seats Motion carried 6–0.
Check this against the district's own record
Nothing here should be taken on trust. These two links open the district's own documents for this meeting on BoardBook. The agenda is text. The minutes are a scan — open them and try to select a word.
- The district's agenda for this meeting (BoardBook, opens in a new site)
- The district's minutes for this meeting (BoardBook, a scan of paper)
The other meetings published in full
- Regular meeting · 29 July 2026Nineteen items, eleven recorded votes, and one of them tabled
- Special called meeting · 8 May 2026The night the board's leadership changed
How each trustee voted
Texas law requires the minutes to indicate each vote. It does not require the district to record how each individual trustee voted. Roma ISD records the roll call on every motion anyway — that is the district's own choice, and it is a stronger commitment than the statute asks for.