PHARR, Texas - Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD board member Cynthia Gutierrez has defended her actions after being censured by a majority of her fellow trustees.
She did so in a podcast with the Rio Grande Guardian where she was accompanied by her attorney, Samuel Reyes. Gutierrez said she is confident she will win her legal challenge.
At special‑called meeting in June, PSJA trustees approved a Resolution of Censure and Exclusion against Gutierrez. They said they were forced to do this under the Board Policy BBF(LOCAL) and Texas Education Code 11.151(c) due to a series of “disruptive actions” by Gutierrez. The censure included a time‑limited restriction from District property. The campus ban was lifted in September.
“After careful review of the facts and in full view of the public, we concluded that these corrective measures are necessary to protect the integrity of our governance and allow us to concentrate on what matters most—educating PSJA students,” said PSJA Board President Diana Serna, when the censure was issued. “This Board does not take such action lightly, and we will continue to evaluate the situation every six months.”
The Guardian has reached out to board trustee Carlos Villegas, Jr., for an interview also.
Here is a video recording of the interview with Gutierrez and Reyes:
