More than a dozen Grand Prairie ISD community members spoke out in defense of suspended Superintendent Jorge Arredondo Thursday night – and criticized the school board’s decision to place him on leave just two months into the job.
Thursday’s school board meeting was the first after Arredondo sued the district, alleging it violated his contractual and constitutional rights.
Arredondo – hired in July – was suspended in September amid an investigation. Earlier this month the board voted 4 to 2 to say he had a violated district policy related to discrimination, but no specific violation nor accusers have been identified.
Arredondo alleges he has been denied the chance to respond to the district and defend himself against the accusations.
Most speakers at the meeting, like Esmerelda Rodriguez, defended Arredondo.
“I'm just here to demand that we get Superintendent Dr. Arredondo ... reinstated,” Rodriguez said. “It is time to stop wasting the tax money and leave the superintendent to do his job.
“Why are we paying him money to stay at home? You can do the investigation while he can still do his job. We have no time or money to waste in divisive politics.”
Samuel Cortez told board members that they’d chosen Arredondo in a 7-0 unanimous vote in June to do an important, necessary job in the district. But suddenly, he said, they suspended him.
“Why?” he asked. “It’s too insufficient for us to be hearing he violated policy. Tell me why. What did he do? Our neighbors deserve more than that. Is it something we need to be concerned about? Some danger? If so, let us know. And if there’s nothing there, end his suspension.”
Some speakers hinted that Arredondo was suspended because he’s Hispanic, and racism played a role. Arredondo’s lawsuit alleges he was the target of discrimination from some trustees. About 70% of Grand Prairie ISD students are Hispanic/Latino.
Speaker Angela Luckey-Vaughn countered that view.
“This is not an issue of race,” she said. “This is an issue of policy violation. What is hurtful is that a few individuals want to make this about race and not stay focused on a policy violation.”
Earlier this week, a judge granted Arredondo a temporary restraining order against the district and the school board that blocked trustees from discussing his contract and possibly firing him Thursday, as was laid out in an earlier agenda for the meeting.
Grand Prairie ISD told KERA in a statement on Tuesday that it couldn’t comment on legal matters, but the “district is committed to acting in the best interests of our students, staff and community, and will respond to any legal matters appropriately through the court system.”
A hearing on a temporary injunction has been set for Oct. 28.
Bill Zeeble is KERA’s education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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