The Puerto Rico Office of Government Ethics (OEG) has filed an ethics complaint against Lowinell Mercado Torres, principal of the Escuela Superior Jaime Castañer in Yauco, for clocking three hours of work she apparently did not perform. She is accused of using the duties of her post for personal benefit, and her penalty will be determined once she answers the complaint.
The OEG is already asking her to return $105 she was paid in excess. According to the OEG, her regular schedule was 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Between October 2025 and February 2026 she also held another post at the Education Department under the Nuestra Escuela Extendida program, at the same school she directed. That second job paid $35 an hour up to a maximum of 345 hours.
On November 25, 2025, the OEG says, she recorded in the Kronos system that she worked in the extended-school program, when she was actually working from 1:00 PM at a part-time job at a Marshalls store, also in Yauco. The complaint says she entered work hours that coincided with the time she was working at Marshalls.
The OEG also says she lied about her workday by adjusting her schedule, a task that fell to her supervisor.