Former Brownsville Independent School Distinct administrators and trustees still remember the costs that had to be paid to district employees who complained about having to work for former Athletic Director Joe Rodriguez for the benefit of his private non-profit.
"We had to pay about $28,000 as a result of their grievances in 2008," recalled one. "Coach Joe would use them at his fundraiser as well as BISD vehicles and other equipment. He used to have BISD coolers full of Coors beer at those functions against the policies of the district."
At last Thursday's meeting of the BISD trustees, another part of the Joe Rodriguez legacy has come back to bite the district in its fund balance. Just as Coach Joe would make use of district employees for his functions, the U.S. Dept. of Labor Wage and Hour Division has assessed fines totalling $45,920 against the district for using minors against the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The fines come under two provisions of the FLSA; hours standards and under legal age employment.The Department of Labor probe covers only two years (2010 through 2012) but some BISD administrators say the district lucked out paying only the fines for two years instead of the larger amounts if investigators had go back even further.
"We lucked out," said an administrator. "If the Dept. of Labor had gone back to 2008 or before we'd be looking at perhaps $100,000s instead of the $45,000 they assessed in penalties for the last two years."
For at least one of the trustees, Catalina Garcia-Presas, the Dept. of Labor penalties are a warning that it is high time that the practices of the past should be discarded.
"We have to train our administrators and coaches to follow the law," she said. "These are not new laws. They have been on the books for decades. Just because they are used to do it the old way doesn't mean they can continue doing it anymore. This is going to hurt our fund balance again."
The fines were assessed because of the continuing use of students (some as young as 12 or 13) to move the chains, chase balls, help with the setting up of the fields and other assorted tasks during football games and other sporting events. Others dealt with the violation of hours standards for 14 and 15 year olds.
In a report that Superintendent Carl Montoya gave the trustees last Thursday, he informed them of the Dept. of Labor findings but did not give specifics on the locations and the amounts per site. However, he did say that the money would have to come from the district's fund balance that recently took a hit from the settlement with former superintendent Hector Gonzales and former CFO Tony Juarez.
Below is a list of the sites and violations and the fines assessed.1. Sam's Stadium – Hours standards, 1 violation (14-15): $1,150
Under Legal Age for Employment (12-13): $6,000
Total: $7,1502. Pace High School – Hours standards, 5 minors (14-15)
Total: $2,7953. Lopez High School– Hours standards, 5 violations (14-15)
Total: $1,725
Total: $4,600
5. Besteiro Middle School – Hours standards, Under Legal Age for Employment, 7 minors (12-13)
Total: $20,220
Under Legal Age for Employment, 1 violation, $6,000
Total: $8,875
7. Hanna High School – Hours standards, 1 violation
Total: $575
Total Fines: $45,920
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