Valley Academy decision draws criticism from some quarters

March 24, 2003

Valley Academy decision draws criticism from some quarters
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___A plan to close the high-school component of Valley Baptist Missions/Education Center has drawn criticism from the Valley Baptist Academy Alumni Association's president and one of the school's own trustees.
___Eduardo Lara of Temple, president of the alumni association, and Joel Salazar of Houston, a school trustee, both have written letters publicly appealing for a reversal of the board's Feb. 6 vote to close the high school. The letters were written to Keith Bruce, coordinator of institutional ministries for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___The Harlingen school was founded by Baptists in South Texas in 1947 and adopted by the BGCT in 1962. The residential high school for Hispanic students flourished through the mid-1980s but has experienced declining enrollment in recent years.
___In 1997, trustees of Valley Baptist Academy changed the school's name to Valley Baptist Missions/Education Center and broadened its purpose to encompass undergraduate and graduate theological education and strategic support for missions work in the Rio Grande Valley.
___Both Lara and Salazar expressed concern that the original vision of providing a residential high school for Hispanic students has been lost.
___"For the last 17 years, the trustees and administrators switched their focus from serving Texas Baptists to opening the academy to rich students from Mexico," Lara wrote. "This is clearly not the purpose of the school."
___Salazar concurred that the school's founding mission "has long been forgotten in the race for quick cash in the form of wealthy Mexican students who do not hold any allegiance to the school nor it mission."
___According to Salazar, the school has lost touch with local Baptist pastors and lay leaders and has focused on "saving the BGCT money" rather than fulfilling its mission.
___"There has been a history of mismanagement, possible corruption, spend-happy presidents and incompetent trustees," charged Salazar, an attorney and mediator.
___Salazar further charged that "the majority of trustees are older white people who live far away and leave the problems behind at the conclusion of the meetings. Thus, they have no horse in the race."
___Lara recalled the days when he was a student at Valley Baptist Academy in the mid-1980s. "The academy at the time was thriving. The dormitories were full and, as I remember, most of the students received some kind of financial aid. Many students, like myself, shared an interest in pursuing a call to the ministry."
___Bruce, who has no power to change the decision of the trustees but serves only in a liaison role, responded that he appreciates the concerns outlined by Lara and Salazar.
___Digging up criticism of previous administrators will not accomplish any good at this point, he said. "The current reality the board faced is a school that has been in decline for many years, at least the past eight or 10."
___The problem, at least in part, transcends leadership issues and relates to societal and educational changes in Texas, Bruce said.
___"Educational opportunities in the border and valley area have changed so that a boarding school academy at the high school level does not meet the same need as several years ago. The school districts have improved. The laws have improved."
___Bruce acknowledged that Lara and Salazar are "exactly right that the intent of the Valley Baptist Missions/Education Center is to provide education for Hispanic leadership. That is still a foundational thing. We still have the programs of theological education, and we're looking to expand those."
___Keeping the high school open has required so much energy and expense that the broader mission set out for the missions education center has not been fulfilled, Bruce added.
___"The bottom line is that God in his providence has given Texas Baptists and our Hispanic constituency a tremendous piece of property right in the middle of one of the most strategic areas of our state. For the last several years, we have not been effective stewards of that property. We have an opportunity now to seek God and say, 'Lord, how would you have us use this?'"
___Valley Baptist Missions/Education Center sits on 40-acre campus on Harrison Street in Harlingen. Many of its buildings are in need of significant updates.
___In the current year's budget, the BGCT will provide $200,000 toward the institution's operation.
___Editor's note: The Valley Baptist Academy Alumni Association website may be viewed at www.geocities.com/vbaalumni.

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