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Public commenters tell San Benito CISD board of rodent sightings, staff retention and stipend concerns
Summary
At the San Benito CISD board meeting, public commenters raised health and safety concerns after multiple rat sightings at the high school and urged the district to review pay and retention for school police officers, bus drivers and other staff; Superintendent Fred Perez acknowledged the rodent problem and said the district is addressing it.
During the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District board meeting, public commenters urged the district to address a reported rodent infestation at San Benito High School and raised broader staffing and compensation concerns.
The comments began when public commenter Andaire Agueyes Abru said students and staff had logged multiple rat sightings across campus, including in classrooms and the cafeteria, and that some teachers had bought their own traps. "This situation is unacceptable," Abru said, adding that a lingering odor of a dead rat and reports of droppings posed health and safety hazards.
Superintendent Fred Perez told the board the district was aware of the problem and working on it. "We do know about the problem ... we are on that," Perez said, adding that rodent infestations can spread quickly.
Other public speakers raised personnel and compensation issues. A speaker identified only as Lupita praised recent academic gains but said campus police officers and bus drivers were leaving the district for higher pay elsewhere and urged the board to review pay scales to retain those staff, saying, "There is no price on safety." Mary Maney, another commenter, urged clearer notification when required training or videos change and asked the district to reconsider some stipends and compensation-plan changes that she said had disadvantaged support staff such as librarians and nurses.
Board President Dr. Ariel Cruz Vela and other trustees listened during the public-comment portion; Perez acknowledged the staffing concerns and said the district would continue work on recruitment and retention while addressing facility and maintenance issues.
The comments covered three distinct civic concerns: building maintenance and sanitation, employee retention and compensation transparency, and administrative communications about required training. No formal board action was taken on these public comments during the meeting; the district’s staff reported it was working on immediate pest control and ongoing staffing reviews.
The public-comment speakers who addressed these issues included community members Andaire Agueyes Abru, Lupita (last name not specified), and Mary Maney. Perez’s acknowledgment and assurance that the district is addressing the rodent reports was the only direct response recorded in open session.
