Since September, the superintendent of Grand Prairie ISD has been placed on paid suspension. He just made his formal resignation known.
-
-
Grand Prairie ISD Superintendent Dr. Jorge Arredondo is now officially out after reaching a separation agreement with the district.
-
The school board tried to fire him in December but Arredondo was planning to take his case to the TEA.
-
With the separation agreement, Arredondo has officially resigned, and the board may now begin searching for a new superintendent.
-
The financial terms of the agreement were not released. A trustee also confirmed that the results of an outside investigation will remain sealed at Arredondo’s request.
-
-
Grand Prairie ISD Superintendent Dr. Jorge Arredondo is now officially out after reaching a separation agreement with the district.
-
The school board tried to fire him in December but Arredondo was planning to take his case to the TEA.
-
With the separation agreement, Arredondo has officially resigned, and the board may now begin searching for a new superintendent.
-
The financial terms of the agreement were not released. A trustee also confirmed that the results of an outside investigation will remain sealed at Arredondo’s request.
Texas’s Grand PrairieThe board of Grand Prairie ISD may now start the process of selecting a new leader after the problematic superintendent resigned.
Dr. Jorge Arredondo Steps Down
What’s fresh:
A settlement was made between the school system and Dr. Jorge Arredondo.
The separation agreement was accepted by trustees on Monday night by a vote of four to three.
The settlement’s financial specifics were not made public.
The backstory
Arredondo was placed on paid suspension in September after being hired in June.
He broke the district’s policy against discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, according to a report from an outside investigator.
In December, trustees attempted to terminate him without disclosing any details of the investigation or findings.
Grand Prairie ISD fires superintendent without ever fully explaining why
Six months after his appointment, the new superintendent of the Grand Prairie Independent School District was formally fired.
Arredondo then tried to retain his position by going to court.
Later this month, he also intended to present his case to the Texas Education Agency. That is no longer the case.
Grand Prairie Community Concerns
What they’re saying:
Members of the community have urged trustees to make the Arredondo report from the external investigation public.
“I want to know what happened, not just for myself but for the GPISD family because it looks like we’re hiding something,” Grand Prairie resident Maggie Walters stated. “If you’re going to sever ties with the superintendent, we need to know why.”
“Transparency is being wiped out entirely. According to former State Representative Rodney Anderson, a “yes vote means the public will never know the terms or see the results of the investigation.” “The conclusions of this third-party assessment, which was based on more than 40 witness testimonies and a two-hour interview with the former superintendent, were so serious that five board members decided to put him on leave. The public must know why those votes have shifted.
Grand Prairie ISD parents call for transparency in superintendent investigation
Grand Prairie’s worried parents are demanding openness following the district’s superintendent’s leave. Only the trustees are aware of the reason he is being investigated.
According to trustee Emily Liles, Arredondo requested that the study be kept confidential, but the district has no problem making the report public with staff names removed.
“The superintendent’s due process is not followed, and the community will not be aware of the settlement agreement’s financial specifics. This contradicts everything I stand for and everything this board has fought for,” Liles stated.
Next steps:
The district is now able to proceed with the appointment of a new superintendent thanks to the agreement that was struck on Monday night.
The Origin:The data used in this narrative originates from
