(TEXAS SCORECARD) – Families in Grand Prairie Independent School District are demanding answers about why a recently hired superintendent was suspended, and several are saying they want him reinstated.
Community members called for transparency at Thursday night’s school board meeting. But trustees gave them little information about why they voted earlier this month to place Superintendent Jorge Arredondo on paid administrative leave.
“I’m not here to be on a ‘witch hunt’ against anyone,” said Grand Prairie ISD resident Ed Gray, referring to a comment by Trustee David Espinosa calling the investigation into Arredondo a politically motivated witch hunt.
“I’m here to ask for transparency from the school district,” Gray told trustees. “Today, I speak to you on behalf of people that are embarrassed about the situation that we are in today. Within three months … we are now at a point where a superintendent was placed on administrative leave.”
He concluded, “This is not good for this district, and it’s not good for our children. We have to do better than this. We demand better than this.”
Several Hispanic community members—some addressing the board in Spanish, with help from an interpreter—wanted trustees to reinstate Arredondo because he is the district’s first Hispanic superintendent.
They told the board that seeing an administrator who looks like them may inspire students to “dream of becoming a superintendent one day.”
About 70 percent of Grand Prairie ISD students are Hispanic.
Becky Archuleta—a mother who said her two children attended private school until the district hired the new superintendent—praised Arredondo’s enthusiasm and criticized the board for failing to inform families.
“I heard on the news, just like everyone else, that the superintendent was suspended and that you were protecting his privacy and protecting the school. But are you really?” she asked, citing negative rumors circulating online.
Archuleta said trustees had asked the community what they wanted in a superintendent and then “you actually hired the guy.”
He’s a good example, but we’re not going to know the truth. You haven’t told us anything. There’s no transparency. All we know is what’s on online. And as you know, social media is not always a good thing. There’s so many rumors, so much going on. If he did something that was truly bad, then yes, he deserves the suspension. Did he do something to children? Did he steal money? We don’t know…
Maybe he was making too many changes. Maybe that was something that you didn’t want, you weren’t prepared for, but he brought passion to the children.
“This man, he’s Hispanic, he’s well educated, he’s well spoken, he’s very passionate. And then what do I tell the kids? Oh, he’s suspended because I don’t know, suspicious things, I guess,” Archuleta concluded.
Another parent, Amber Lucky, told trustees her family previously lived in DeSoto ISD “during a time where there was extreme turmoil with the superintendent that left a lot of unanswered questions and wasted tax dollars.”
“That superintendent was very active, attending events, and very visible. So smoke and mirrors, it just really doesn’t mean anything to me,” Lucky said.
“I don’t know the specific details of what happened with the superintendent that has been placed on leave,” she continued. “What I do know is it took me less than five minutes to do a Google search to discover some unnerving things that took place in previous districts under their leadership that were based on facts, not emotions.”
Lucky added, “I’m highly disappointed that we are now in a district that’s in the news, once again, not for good reasons, and now wasting additional dollars that we desperately need.” Lucky continued, “I hope the board provides full transparency of the details of what’s going on, explains exactly what the district and superintendent on leave need protection from, [and] provides a date on when the investigation results from the law firm will be shared.”
Trustees remained close-lipped about the investigation of Arredondo.
But Trustee Emily Liles did say that “what is being projected out into the community via social media and the media that is here tonight is not the truth, and that will be rectified shortly.”
Liles confirmed that trustees had unanimously agreed to hire Arredondo three months ago.
She said she stands behind that decision but is “reserving judgment” until the investigation into Arredondo is complete, “because I don’t know, we don’t know, how this is going to end.”
“Our investigation is to do due diligence and to make sure that what is presented to us gets due process. We as a board cannot and should not make any statements until this investigation is complete, and that’s what I’m choosing to do,” said Liles.
At the end of Thursday’s meeting, Board President Amber Moffitt thanked community members for showing up and speaking, and said trustees want to be as transparent as possible.
“We’re going to continue to make sure that the decisions that we make are in the best interest of students and making sure that they’re successful in this district,” she said.
“As far as the investigation goes, this board will continue to stand on policy and provide due process.”
Grand Prairie ISD community members can direct questions to school board trustees.