The mother of Rialto Unified school board member Edgar Montes has resigned her position as a Nutrition Services worker for the district following a Southern California News Group inquiry about Montes’ vote to hire her two years ago.
Montes said in an email that his act was “inadvertent” and not a conflict of interest in violation of the Political Reform Act. But he did say that, “under governing law,” his mother should resign.
Montes’ action violated school board bylaws regarding conflict of interest, which clearly state, “Even if there is not a prohibited conflict of interest, a Board member shall abstain from voting on personnel matters that uniquely affect his/her relatives.”
“Unfortunately, my error has resulted in my mother’s resignation as a school cafeteria worker,” Montes said. “I apologize to the board, the interim superintendent and, of course, my mother, who has now lost a job that she cherished for almost 3 years.”
Rialto Unified Lead Personnel Agent Rhonda Kramer said in an email Friday, April 18, that Montes Torres submitted her resignation Wednesday, but her last day of employment was Tuesday. She said Montes Torres had been working at Morgan Elementary School since Sept. 12, 2023. Previously, she worked as a substitute nutrition worker from January to August 2022 and at Preston Elementary School from August 2022 to Sept. 11, 2023.
In backup materials of the Aug. 10, 2022, board agenda, Montes Torres’ was listed among dozens of names of those who had passed background checks and were recommended for hiring or promotions. Montes and school board members Stephanie Lewis and Nancy O’Kelley voted to approve hiring Montes Torres as a part-time nutrition services worker at Preston Elementary School. Board member Joseph Martinez was not present during the vote and board member Dina Walker was absent, according to the meeting minutes.
Lewis, now the board president, and Martinez did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
While he said he reviewed the board agenda packet, Montes claims he did not notice his mother’s name on the list of dozens of hiring prospects and those recommended for promotions. He apologized for not reviewing the materials more diligently, nor realizing he should have abstained from voting.
In part, Montes, a school board member for 15 years, blamed former district Superintendent Cuauhtemoc Avila for not providing him any guidance or taking “appropriate remedial action” at the time the approval occurred.
“When I later learned that I had voted on an item affecting a close family member, I reported it to the superintendent, he acknowledged it and I was not given any direction or guidance, leaving me to believe that this issue did not need to be addressed any further,” Montes said in his statement.
Avila, who was fired by the board, without cause, on Feb. 19 following a nearly 10-month investigation into a sexual harassment complaint he said was determined to be unfounded, did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
In November, Avila filed a claim against the district — one of two he filed in the past six months — leveling several allegations against Montes and Lead Agent of Innovation Patricia Chavez, who accused him of sexual harassment. Avila alleged the two conspired to get Avila ousted for their own special interests, Chavez because he did not promote her and Montes because Avila refused to “acquiesce to demands” the superintendent believed were unethical or illegal.
Among Avila’s allegations against Montes was that he wanted Avila “to hire family members and/or friends of his, even if they were unqualified and did not meet hiring requirements.”
Montes said in January he had been advised by his attorney not to comment, saying only, “The statements made by Dr. Avila are false and defamatory. His statements will be handled in due course.”
The board member did not respond to additional questions, including why he did not know beforehand his own mother’s recommended hiring was on the agenda or why someone from Nutrition Services would not have briefed him.
Montes has long championed and lauded the Nutrition Services department. At a March 2023 board meeting, he referred to Nutrition Services Lead Agent Fausat Rahman-Davies as his “African sister from another mister.”
Some aren’t buying Montes’ story.
Education advocate Steven Figueroa said that, for the past year, he has publicly broached the subject of Montes voting to hire his mother and suggested board members should be declaring conflicts of interest and abstaining from such votes. He has locked horns with Montes, who has also spoken out against Figueroa at board meetings.
“He’s lying. He was aware, and for him to backtrack and say he wasn’t aware was false,” Figueroa said in a telephone interview Friday. He said he spoke on the issue at several board meetings last summer and in the fall.
As for Montes casting blame on Avila, Figueroa said, “It’s hogwash. Edgar has shown that he is intelligent, and he can’t blame someone else for this.”
He said Montes should have owned up to his mistake at the following board meeting. “He should have declared it at the very next meeting, and recommended that the board take any action it should have. He didn’t do that.”
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