Southeast Bexar County Awareness: Southside ISD Education Foundation manipulated by the "team"

October 22, 2009, the Southside ISD School Board Members, Lisa Salazar-President, Theresa Balderas, Daniel Rodriguez, Raul Martinez, Rick Quebe and Margie Lopez- Vice President voted to approve a loan to the Education Foundation in support of it's establishment. Craig Knapp, Secretary was absent.

Former Southside ISD graduates have a long history of leaving home to further their education; only to return to the neighborhood they grew up in. Then there are those who have chosen to work for the district right out of high school.

Southside ISD is not just a school district, it's a community of people whose history goes back to the Spanish Land Grants. And it can be said that it's because of the family connections that Southside Alumni return to teach the future generations of Southside students.

Their purpose, to give the students the same opportunities they had and to work for community involvement. The Education Foundation was established to do just that. To further assist the students and the teachers with their education by awarding scholarships to students attending higher learning facilities, as well as helping teachers with grants for programs that help students advance.

Pre-College Advisor, Mr. Charles Gallardo students aware of scholarships available, as well as testing times and dates.

The bulletin desimated the following information: deadlines, money distribution, requirements and where to pick up the applications.

There were a variety of scholarships available through the Southside ISD Education Foundation.

A teacher's job is hard on it's own because they have to rely not only on their training, but on funding for materials. School districts throughout the nation are strapped financially, even more so in today's economy. Scholarships awarded to those educators that go beyond the call can make a big difference. The Southside ISD Education Foundation gave grants to teacher's to help them do just that. The Education Foundation awarded grants to 4 elementary teachers in the district, which allowed them to create a new math program for their students.

The Southside ISD Education Foundation board should be commended for the hard work they provide in order to accomplish something this special in their community. The foundation is a nonprofit organization that requires a lot of time, that is given freely, as these positions are non-paid positions.

The Southside ISD Alumni are a rare breed today, they truly are a gift to their community.

Thanks to the actions of the board "team" members and their supporters, the Southside Education Foundation was maliciously accused of, investigated for and then cleared of any wrongdoing; but not before bringing a bad light on the members of the alumni that worked hard to put on fundraisers and see that scholarships were awarded to honest, hardworking individuals who earned them.

Since the election of the "team" the Education Foundation Facebook had not activity, the district deleted the foundation from it's website and made it appear to be nonexistent. The district did take in financial donations in the name of the Education Foundation.

Since there has been no transparency from the "team" there is no way of knowing if the district used those funds inappropriately.

A single agenda item showed that Mr. Cannon, no longer with the board would be the head of the foundation with a new name; Southside Alumni For Excellence in Education, but to date, no other mention of the Education Foundation was mentioned.

The Education Foundation was set up to help teachers further their training with grants and students to further their education with scholarships.

The "team" took over and the funding has been said to have been used to offset the costs of the Jumbotron Movie Night, free food , free night for the community, at the expense of the taxpayers or the donations given to the district for grants and scholarships.