Three days before her contract was to expire, Coastal Bend College has fired Vice President of Instruction and Economic Development Dr. Matilda Saenz.
Saenz says she was notified by a hand-delivered letter on Tuesday.
She had only been at the school barely a little over a year.
The termination letter, from CBC President Dr. Beatriz Espinoza, includes an employee discipline notice which states the reason for the termination as “violated policies dj(local)and dh(local)which is employee standards of conduct by copying, maintaining copies, and distributing CBC student records protected by FERPA.
“And refused to return student records when directed.
“Action: immediate termination.”
Espinoza placed Saenz on administrative leave with pay near the end of the school year on May 2 — weeks after our stories about alleged grade changes in the school’s LVN Nursing Program began airing.
Saenz has maintained the grade changes were unauthorized because as the school’s top academic administrator, she would have to sign off on them.
And she claims she did not.
This termination comes following our investigative reports on not only the alleged grade changes but also a culture of fear and intimidation administrators and students told us exists at the school.
Saenz also confirms the school is still under investigation by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
