Edgewood Independent School District’s board voted in favor of sanctioning its youngest trustee Michael Valdez during a special meeting Monday night. 

In a 6-1 vote, the board sanctioned 21-year-old Valdez for violating board policies because he did an interview with KENS 5 without authorization from the board president. Valdez was the lone “no” vote. 

As part of his punishment, Valdez was stripped of his committee assignments, is barred from holding an officer position for the 2025-26 school year and will not be allowed to attend a professional trip the board is scheduled to go on later this year. 

Valdez spoke with several news outlets after parent activist Maribel Gardea was arrested for going over her speaking time during the public comment period at an Aug. 19 board meeting. 

In the KENS 5 interview, he defended Gardea and criticized Board President James Hernandez and Superintendent Eduardo Hernandez. 

Board policies prohibit trustees from speaking negatively about district personnel, including the superintendent.

“I think it’s ridiculous this board called a special meeting just for speaking up,” Valdez told reporters immediately after the board voted to sanction him. Valdez maintains that he did not speak on behalf of the school board. 

Trustee Michael Valdez waits on Monday while the rest of the Edgewood ISD school board discusses in closed session whether to sanction him for speaking to the media without authorization. Credit: Xochilt Garcia / San Antonio Report

This was not Valdez’s first time facing reprimand from the board.

Last year, the board sanctioned Valdez for violating board policies, citing a “pattern of disruptive and disrespectful conduct.” He had to undergo professionalism training or risk being stripped of committee assignments and barred from district property. 

Gardea was charged with resisting arrest, trespassing and disrupting a public meeting and spent the night in jail. The misdemeanor charges were eventually dropped by the Bexar County district attorney.  

During that meeting last month, Valdez publicly expressed concerns with the school board’s operating procedures and asked whether the board could extend speaking times for public commenters. 

Public commenters usually get three minutes to address the board, but president Hernandez had shortened speaking times to two minutes, a measure boards can take when an overwhelming number of people sign up for public comment. 

Edgewood ISD’s attorney Juan Ruiz said the special called meeting on Monday came at the request of both the board president and superintendent. Discussion and possible action regarding sanctions against Valdez was the only item on the agenda.

Gardea, who is not currently allowed on district property, protested the sanctions against Valdez from across the street where the meeting was held.

During public comment, 20 individuals signed up to speak to the board, including Valdez’s mother Melody Herrera.

“Trustee Valdez asks tough questions and pushes for transparency, and that is exactly what we want from our school board members,” she told the board. “Sanctions do nothing for students, teachers or classrooms.”

Herrera is an Edgewood ISD parent and also a member of MindShiftEd, the grassroots organization for underserved students co-founded and led by Gardea. 

Not all in attendance at the packed school board meeting were in support of Valdez.

“You’re a repeat offender and have a record of behaving in an unprofessional manner,” said Lisa Owens, an Edgewood ISD mom, directly addressing Valdez. 

According to Edgewood’s board operating policies, any board member can call for public censure of another board member who violates Robert’s Rules of Order — commonly used by governments to conduct official meetings — or engaging in behavior that is not “tolerated.”

Examples of such behavior include “rude remarks, interruptions, yelling, name calling and disrespectful verbal or body language.” 

“Since Michael started on the board, he’s received at least five warnings,” Hernandez said before the sanction vote. “Michael is not appointed as our news representative.” 

The school board president also said Valdez’s behavior has cost the district $150,000 in legal fees, a cost that Valdez claims the board approved. 

“I don’t regret speaking [to the media] at all,” Valdez told reporters outside the district’s board room. “It’s just being a person, a community advocate.”