A judge ruled in favor of ousted Grand Prairie ISD superintendent Jorge Arredondo, temporarily blocking the district from proceeding with plans to potentially terminate the new leader. NBC 5’s Maria Guerrero walks through the claims and community advocates concerns about the damage caused.
The embattled superintendent of Grand Prairie ISD has successfully petitioned a 'temporary legal pause' blocking school board members from moving forward with efforts to potentially terminate his employment this week.
On Monday, Jorge Arredondo filed a civil lawsuit against GPISD and its board members, petitioning a temporary restraining order, temporary injunction, and motion for expedited discovery in Dallas County.
The presiding judge ruled in Arredondo's favor late Monday afternoon, days before the next school board meeting on Oct. 17, when the board was set to decide Arredondo's future in the district.
Attorney Mary Nix, who is representing Arredondo, shared her reaction to the judge's decision.
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"That restraining order really helps us to put a pause on things and give Dr. Arredondo an opportunity to have his due process and contractual rights respected during this process," said Nix. "That's really what we are trying to do here is get his due process rights, his contractual rights respected during this process."
An injunction hearing will be heard in this case on October 28, according to the filing.
This latest development comes more than a month after the school board first voted to place Arredondo on paid leave following a closed session during the board meeting on Sept. 4.
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"It's just crucial to him that he has an opportunity to defend himself and to respond to any allegations, which, by the way, he doesn't even know what they are," said Nix. ""He has not received any answers and any definitive input on why he was put on leave and what the basis is for them, the board, to be taking a vote on his employment."
While Arredondo had not been publicly accused of any wrongdoing, the district said they decided to put him on leave "to protect the district and Dr. Arredondo" and that a third party would conduct an independent investigation.
The district later alleged a violation of its policy against harassment, though would not disclose what kind of harassment is alleged.
Later, the board said the investigation was complete, they did not explain what the investigation was about and revealed no more details about the circumstances due to the discussions being held behind closed doors during closed sessions.
Superintendent Arredondo had been in Grand Prairie for less than three months, starting as the district leader over the summer on July 1.
Then at another board meeting in early October, the board voted 4 to 2 on a motion that Arredondo violated the district's discrimination, harassment, and retaliation policy. One board member abstained from the vote.
The board did not elaborate on the details of the violation. While no additional comments were made regarding the allegation, one board member did speak after the board came out of a closed session.
Arredondo contends it is he who immediately faced 'resistance and interference' pertaining to decisions, particularly from Emily Liles and board president Amber Moffitt, according to the suit.
"[Liles and Moffitt] questioned Plaintiffs justifiable decisions regarding the reassignment of principals, the allocation of District resources, and the communication with the Board and the public. For example, they were unhappy that Arredondo reassigned a white female executive who had missed more than 20 school days the prior year to a position where her absences would not interfere with school performance;" and with Arredondo’s decision to hire a new principal for a failing campus.
"Liles and Moffitt began denigrating Arredondo and both made disparaging and discriminatory remarks about Plaintiffs race, national origin, and language, including implying that Plaintiff was favoring Hispanic students and staff over other groups which was demonstrably not true. They made it clear that they were not in support of Plaintiffs decision to hire two Hispanic executives, Dr. Rolando Trevino as Deputy Superintendent and Jorge Medina as Executive Director, and even asked if one was hired to be 'a chauffeur,"' according to the lawsuit.
"Liles and Moffitt began to engage in an investigation that can only be described as “witch hunt.” They began digging into Arredondo’s past to try to find anything at all that they could use to discredit Arredondo and try to encourage the other members of the Board to support termination when there was no “Good Cause” to do so. At the same time, they kept Arredondo from being able to do anything to defend himself," states the suit.
Since Arredondo was placed on leave, community members have attended board meetings to express concern over the decision. In September, parents stood beside members of LULAC, saying the Spanish-speaking Arredondo brought something to the predominantly Hispanic district that it previously lacked.
"So as of this date, there are numerous faults and hurtful allegations that have been harmful to Dr. Arredondo, to our board, to our district, and to our community. His professional reputation has been damaged by these allegations. And in my opinion, he's not been afforded the opportunity to respond to these allegations,” said board member Gloria Carrillo.
"The board went to a lot of trouble. They did the right thing. They chose the right steps to choose a person who I was so excited to see represent my kids,” Maggie Walters told trustees. “You see somebody who looks like you, it's a superintendent, and your kids start dreaming.”
According to 63 pages of court documents filed Monday afternoon, Arredondo’s lawyers claim he was, “wrongfully placed on administrative leave and, since then, has been the subject of negative press created by the Board’s decision to put him on leave without any basis for it.”
The filing also added that Arredondo “has attempted to resolve this matter privately and has remained hopeful of resolution and refocus on students, this has not occurred.”
“The Board’s unjust treatment has forced Arredondo to make the difficult decision to file this lawsuit and stand up for his legal rights and reputation as well as to stand up for what is right and just for the entire Grand Prairie community at-large,” the filing reads.
According to the court documents, Arredondo has 25 years of education. He previously served as the superintendent of the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD. After he left, the district opened a forensic audit to determine how Arredondo was spending money.
Before that, Arredondo served as an assistant superintendent in Houston ISD, leaving the same year the TEA first tried to take over the district for underperformance.
The school board responded to NBC 5's request for a comment saying, "The district is aware of reports regarding a lawsuit that may have been filed. At this time, the district has not been served any legal documents related to the matter. As a public entity, we respect the legal process and will review any formal filings once they are received. As always, the district is committed to acting in the best interests of our students, staff, and community, and we will respond to any legal matters appropriately through the court system. Given that this involves potential litigation, we are unable to comment further at this time."
The next board meeting is this Thursday. The agenda shows a proposed discussion on terminating the superintendent, which will take place in a closed session.
