Superintendents across San Antonio have had their contracts altered in recent months in various ways, including additional compensation, extended terms, and other changes shrouded in secrecy.
But finding out what those changes are isn’t an easy task, and if you look at publicly available copies of the contracts, you may find outdated versions — raising concerns about transparency as districts face mounting scrutiny in a politically charged environment.
The Edgewood Independent School District, for example, which raised its leader’s salary and extended his term in September, was criticized by conservative advocacy groups for giving a raise amid shrinking district enrollment and subpar academic scores.
Before trustees voted, a board member read out loud that the compensation would be raised to $291,923.
The final contract, however, which was obtained through an open records request, includes compensation of $335,193.56, a gap of $43,000 from what was shared publicly.
Lauren Blevins, a spokeswoman for the district, said the salary amount shared during a public meeting didn’t account for additional compensation linked to performance metrics of goal achievements.
“Dr. Hernandez’s contract includes earnings accrued over his seven years with Edgewood ISD, which are tied to academic and financial performance metrics or general pay increases approved by the Board of Trustees for all employees,” she said.
Additional compensation options outlined in the contract are extensive, totaling almost $30,000 for metrics such as increase in attendance and accountability scores given by the state.
The compensation also doesn’t account for a monthly $1,000 allowance for “reasonable and necessary expenses.”
The number in the updated contract puts Eduardo Hernández as the second-most highly compensated traditional Independent School District leader in Bexar County, according to numbers compiled by the Texas Education Agency, and among the 14 highest-paid in the state out of more than 1,250 districts. Hernández was originally hired in 2018 by a state-appointed board of managers that was overseeing the district at the time.
Locally, Hernández is second only to Northside ISD’s John Craft, who makes $357,000.
For comparison, Northside ISD has an enrollment of 102,000 compared with Edgewood ISD’s 8,000, and in the last public accountability ratings given by the state in the 2021-22 school year, Northside received a B while Edgewood ISD received a C.
Up until Thursday, nearly a month after the raise was approved, the last contract update on Edgewood’s website was one approved in September 2023. Questions about the salary initially arose when Hernández announced that he would be funding a scholarship for top-performing Edgewood students with his own money. The amount of the scholarship has not yet been shared.
The contract updates come a year after the district closed two schools as part of an effort to overcome a $7 million budget deficit.
Under Texas law, districts are required to post a copy of the superintendent’s contract at least once a year or include it in a public report on financial accountability.
Tracy Ginsburg, the Executive Director of the Texas Association of School Board Officials, said that while it isn’t explicitly required, it is a standard best practice to post updates whenever there are changes.
In the past, Edgewood has posted those as well, including two updates in 2020, two in 2021 and one in 2022 and 2023.
Don Richards, the Texas statewide advisory director and hotline attorney for the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, said posting such updates makes sense.
“Once they post it up there, it would only make logical sense, that they would then update them,” he said. “It wouldn’t make any sense to have an out-of-date contract posted for a superintendent.”
Edgewood ISD trustee Michael Valdez said in a recent interview that he had been asked by constituents who were also looking for the updated contract.
Other districts have also made contract changes recently.
Three weeks after the Judson Independent School District board of trustees approved a contract extension and raise for Superintendent Milton “Rob” Fields, the old contract was still posted online.
When asked about why the online version was out of date, the district updated the contract on its website to the more recent one.
Jaime Aquino’s contract
Other districts choose not to post the documents online at all.
The San Antonio Independent School District, for example, shares the copies only once a year as part of its Financial Integrity Rating System (FIRST) presentation, according to district spokeswoman Laura Short.
At a public hearing presenting the results of the FIRST report in October, however, neither the old or updated contract were shared.
When asked where constituents could find the report, Short was not immediately able to provide a link.
So when an amendment was made to the contract at the same October board meeting, it wasn’t immediately clear what the changes were. The quiet change came amidst reporting by a local TV station over Jaime Aquino’s use of a personal coach, a perk he has said cost the district no money and is common for new superintendents.
The October change was related to the superintendent’s retirement benefits, according to copies of the old and new contracts obtained through an open records request.
The changes appear to move the responsibility for certain retirement costs from the superintendent to the district, guaranteeing that SAISD will cover any shortfall if the superintendent’s Tax-Sheltered Annuity (TSA) does not generate enough funds to buy the superintendent’s annual service credit in the Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS).
The shift appears to provide the superintendent with a more predictable retirement benefit, ensuring that the district will cover all necessary costs if the TSA falls short.
According to Short, the change was intended to clarify the original intent of the clause.
“The original language indicated that the district would contribute 15% of the superintendent’s salary to be used to purchase prior years of service,” Short said. “The new language specifies that the 15% plus interest will be used for the purpose of purchasing prior years of service, and in the event of a gap, the district will cover it.”
Service credits in the TRS directly affect retirement benefits, so the change effectively removes financial uncertainty for the superintendent’s retirement by ensuring he won’t need to cover any shortfall personally.
