Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 16, 1975 Page: 1 of 16
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RIO SRANDE
TPA Award Winning Newspaper
Ten Cents
Vol. XXXIII
No. 14
Thursday, January 16,1975
Rio Grande City, Texas
Board Of Trustees
Hearing Held In
oP en Session
Two hearings were held by
the Rio Grande City School
Boards at a meeting Tuesday
evening.
Glenn Ramey, attorney for
the school district, defended the
board and their right to exer-
cise their authority in in-
structing the superintendent to
write up a reprimand which will
be placed on file in the per-
sonnel file of Higinio F. Garza,
a teacher who works at La
Grulla Jr. High.
The hearing stemmed from
charges brought against Garza
when he disposed of "about 25 to
30" uncapped syringes which
the former school nurse, Miss
Bernice Fowler, had allegedly
kept in unsanitary conditions.
Garza, a laboratory
technologist, stated in his
defense that the procedure
Fowler was using was un-
sanitary and unknown to
"modern medical thoughts on
the germ theory."
The attorney for Garza tried
to establish on what basis and
on what authority was the
school board basing its ac-
cusations against the I-a Grulla
school teacher.
Glenn Ramey replied that the
"board owes no explanation to
you (the attorney) or to Mr.
Garza" for their actions. The
attorney for Garza did not
argue the point.
The school district's attorney,
after inquiry by the defense
lawyer, did state that the board
did not have a set procedure in
the matter of hearings because
"this is the first time we have a
hearing," Garza states he
asked for an open hearing in
order to avoid any heavy
handed methods employed by
certain school board members
who, in closed executive
session, seem to be more out-
spoken and derogatory than in
open session.
A report was read by Ramey
written by School Superin-
tendent A. E. Garcia con-
cerning the incident with the
school nurse. The nurse is
4-H Food Show
To Be Saturday
The 1975 Starr County 4-H
Food Show is scheduled for this
Saturday, January 18, at the
Multipurpose Center in Rio
Grande City, and the public is
invited to attend,
Over 85 entries have already
been made for the show.
Judging of the entries, in-
cluding Main Dishes, Breads
and Desserts, Side Dishes, and
Snacks and Beverages, will
begin at 1.00 p.m. A program
for parents, entitled "Tip for
The Big Four
currently under investigation
by the State Board of Nursing
Examiners.
Garcia alleges Garza used
"disruptive, unprofessional,
and unethical conduct un-
becoming a teacher. Garza
claims his extreme action was
based on temper, but with the
welfare of the children in mind
Garza declared that the nurse
not only used unsanitary
procedures, but ruthlessly
injected overdoses of tuberculin
into four children. Fowler
claimed she was under strain
and a hostile atmosphere and
hence her behavior. However,
she admitted to have overdosed
the children, but did not admit
to unsanitary procedures.
Garza reviewed his con-
versation with several nurses.
The nurses who were ad-
ministering the tuberculin had
also pointed out the sanitary
error Miss Fowler had com-
mitted. She refused to cover the
syringes and refused to have
them capped. However, after
the I-a Grulla teacher threw the
contaminated needles into the
trash. Fowler began to use
capped syringes.
The report on the Fowler
incident had been prepared
since November, but Garza,
after charges were leveled
against him, had not ever seen
the contents of the report nor
did the attorney for the school
district ever inform Garza
before the hearing Tuesday that
the report had existed. The
attorney for the teacher argued
that the paragraphs were
vague. And references to
teachers, medical personnel,
and students were used in
heresay, general terms. No
specific names were used in the
report given; "no proper names
only vague non-descript
nouns."
After an astounding short
executive session, the board
voted in public to instruct the
superintendent to write a letter
see HEARING page 16
Directors Act On
Water Expansion
Good Health and Happy
living," a film presentation,
will be presented by Jaime
Garza, to all parents and other
persons attending while the
entries are being judged.
The awards Program will be
at 3:00 p.m., followed by a
viewing and tasting party. A fee
of 25 cents will be charged per
plate for the tasting party, and
recipe booklets containing all
the recipes from the Food Show
may also be purchased for a
quarter.
The Water District's Board of
Directors empowered the water
district's resident engineer, Joe
Gallegos, to gather additional
information for the expansion of
the water district.
The president of the board, R.
P. Bayne, began the meeting
demanding why Gallegos had
sought information from the
board's legal counsel without
authorization of the board.
Gallegos replied that the
matter had been discussed
• luring the December board
meeting and that he "in good
faith" sought the expansion
information for the benefit and
informative value it would have
for the water board.
Bayne pressed the question,
I just want to know who
authorized him to see lawyers
about expanding." One of the
board members, John
Dreumont, countered with the
statement and question as to
why Bayne was against ex-
pansion. "Are you against
expansion7" asked Dreumont.
"I didn't say that," replied
Bayne.
"Why fight it then," retorted
Dreumont.
Bayne calmed down and the
board settled down to listen to
the board's attorney in the
matter of the details and
legalities involved in expansion.
The attorney stated there
must first be a petition
presented to the water board
asking for annexation by the
people in the area wanting to be
included in the water district.
The petitioners must number 50
landowners or 50 of people
desiring to be annexed.
After the petition is heard, the
water board must pass a
resolution to include the area in
the present water district.
Notices must be published in
the local newspaper advising
the public of the impending
elections and to advise the
people of the hearings the water
board must have and which
must be opened to the public.
Two elections must be un-
dertaken, one election must be
held within the boundaries of
the present water district. The
voters, property owners, must
vote for annexation.
The other election must be
held in the territory outside the
district which desires to be
annexed. Both the people in the
area of annexation and the
people in the present water
district must vote in favor of
annexation.
If any one of the two sub-
divisions vote negatively, the
annexation will fail
The annexed area, if the
elections pass, will assume
bond debts and taxes if the
board should ever resort to
taxation. The water district has
the power to levy taxes, but no
Starr County Water District Board Member I^uro Ixiuez exDlains
n-Tnn™! c fnents of new wastewater treatment plant to son
Danny Lopez. Danns was home over the holidays from San Marcos
" nP7h attending Southw'est Texas State University I^juro
.xipez has shown so much interest in the Water District's projects
that friends are urging him to run for re-election this coming April
taxes on the water district level
have been levied in recent
memory.
One board member expressed
the feeling that annexation
would be easy since the water
district serves the people
outside the water boundaries
and that those people outside
the water district have all the
privileges of a water district
resident, except the person
outside the district cannot vote
for board members.
The persons residing outside
the district are used in
calculating proposals sub-
mitted for federal grants,
however, they have no say in
the matter, according to the
member.
In other district matters, the
Resident Engineer reported to
the board that the Sewer
Project to the hospital was
90'f complete, however, the
sewer treatment plant was slow
because of the sandy conditions
found after escavation was
started.
The board also voted to make
the taping fees more equitable.
The water manager explained
the expense involved in con-
necting a household and
recommended that a "break-
even" fee be instituted. The
board passed on making the
tapping fee $85.00 for persons
within the water district and
$100.00 for connecting outside
the water district.
It was reported that Paul
Dunning, a local accountant,
showed interest in keeping the
see FOUR page 11
Arturo Garza Graduates
At Pan American
Among the Pan American
University Fall graduates was
Arturo Garza, a Rio Grande
City school teacher.
The recent graduate earned a
Master's degree in Education
with a major in Elementary
Supervision. The semester
officially ended December 17,
1974, however, commencement
exercises will be held May 18.
Garza has been a classroom
teacher at the Rio Grande City
Schools and is presently a staff
member of Title VII federal
program which is widely known
as the Bi-lingual Program. He
intends to continue doing
graduate work at the university
in the field of administration.
Harm,' /
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Van Nest, Lloyd A. Rio Grande Herald (Rio Grande City, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 16, 1975, newspaper, January 16, 1975; Rio Grande City, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth194492/m1/1/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rio Grande City Public Library.