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Grand Prairie ISD could dismiss superintendent tonight

A portrait of Grand Prairie ISD Superintendent Jorge Arredondo. He's wearing a blue plaid suit and green tie.
Grand Prairie ISD
Grand Prairie Superintendent Jorge Arredondo sued the district after he was placed on paid administrative leave in September. His restraining order against the district was voided when GPISD requested to move the case to federal court, leaving the board free to discuss his employment.

The Grand Prairie ISD school board could discuss possibly firing its superintendent now that his order blocking them from doing so has been voided.

Jorge Arredondo was put on paid leave in early September amid unspecified allegations that he violated board policy. He had been on the job for about two months.

Arredondo sued the district and trustees in October, alleging he had been denied the chance to defend himself against their claims. In his lawsuit, he said the district violated his contractual and constitutional rights. He was granted a Temporary Restraining Order preventing trustees from considering his dismissal, but that order was voided when GPISD requested the case be moved to federal court.

At a special meeting Monday night, the board will go into closed session to discuss the case then “consider and take possible action regarding employment of Superintendent, including proposed termination.”

Arredondo’s attorney, Mary Nix, said despite that wording, trustees could also reinstate the superintendent, and she’s “optimistic” they will. She told KERA in an email there “is no basis for a decision to terminate [Arredondo’s] employment.”

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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Bill Zeeble has been a full-time reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine to the Mavericks and education to environmental issues.