San Benito ISD Insurance Consultant In Hot Water

SAN BENITO — School board member Oscar Medrano wants the superintendent to fire an insurance consulutant who would not name the company that would insure the district. Medrano and board member Anna Cruz on Monday said they had learned that the Salazar Insurance Group was the company that offered the insurance plan that consultant Glenn Hillyer recommended without naming.

The Salazar insurance company is the same agent that school board president Yliana Rodriguez hired in May without the board’s approval. She issued a memo two days later rescinding her action.

The school board meets at today to vote on the matter.

In an email sent to Superintendent Antonio Limon on Aug. 9, Medrano said Hillyer, a consultant hired to advise the district about its insurance, should be fired because Hillyer recommended an insurance plan offered by the Salazar company.

In a school finance committee workshop on Aug. 7, Medrano said, Hillyer recommended insurance plans but would not name the insurance agent that would provide those plans. Hillyer said he wasn’t required to name an insurance agent.

But Medrano and Cruz said they won’t vote to award the district’s insurance contract for a so-called “cafeteria plan” to Salazar as the third-party insurance administrator.

Cruz said she won’t vote to hire Salazar because the district’s current third-party insurance agent, the Bob Treviño insurance company in Pharr, has a year remaining on its contract with the district.

“We feel we were lied to,” Medrano Friday. “If we’re going to have Glen Hillyer as a consultant, he has to be upfront with us. This is taxpayer money. It involves our employees.” School attorney Juan Cabrera said Hillyer was not required to name the company in the finance meeting because it is an informal forum but the agent’s name must disclose at today’s school board meeting.

Hillyer said he followed procedure at the finance meeting.

“The information that’s going around is completely unfounded,” Hillyer said of the accusations. “If anyone takes an objective look at this, they’ll realize this process is completely normal with no interference whatsoever.”

Rodriguez and Limon did not return messages requesting comment Monday.

Editor’s Note: See http://blog.riskmanagers.us/?p=8633 and http://blog.riskmanagers.us/?p=8698 Mr. Hillyer was licensed by the Texas Department of Insurance as a Life & Health Insurance Counselor 11-18-2011. See tonights Board Agenda here:http://board.sbcisd.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/081412.pdf

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Update: http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/san-101337-sbcisd-benito.html