Plastic Surgery in Grand Prairie, TX

GRAND PRAIRIE — The Grand Prairie Independent School District voted 5-2 on Monday in favor of terminating recently hired superintendent Dr. Jorge Arrendondo.

Arredondo was placed on administrative leave in September, months after being chosen to lead the district in July.

The board voted in favor of the suspension to "protect the district and Dr. Arredondo." According to the district, Arredondo violated the district's policy around discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against district employees. The district has not provided any specifics about the allegations.

Arredondo's attorney, Mary Nix said they filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming the board broke his contract by not giving him any advance notice or explanation for putting him on leave in September. He has continued receiving his $317,000 salary. Arredondo also claimed the board violated his constitutional rights by discriminatory and defamatory statements against him, implying that he was favoring Hispanic students and staff, which he said was not true.

In October, a judge temporarily blocked the district from firing him by granting a temporary restraining order. That restraining order expired, leading to Monday's meeting.

The board has not publicly released any information about what warranted the proposed termination angering a number of Grand Prairie residents who spoke at Monday night's meeting, demanding to know what he did to deserve termination.

"The school board has been really focused on spending a lot of our money, that should actually be focused on our teachers and kids," said Esmeralda Rodriguez, a LULAC Member. "I don't know if this is going to be over. Dr. Arredondo probably wants to appeal, and this is just going to drag on and it's just not a good thing for our district."

School board member David Espinosa voted against the proposed termination and supports other options such as a reprimand, suspension or growth plan; however, he won't say what the allegations are.

Arredondo could take the district to court over Monday night's decision.

"This is an ill-advised decision that will only result in further legal action against the district and individual board members," Nix said in a statement Monday night. "Throughout his brief tenure Dr. Arredondo acted solely in the interests of the district's students and faculty, and no credible evidence has been produced that he violated any district policy. Dr. Arredondo is obviously disappointed, as are many in the Grand Prairie community. However, he remains confident that his name will be cleared and the motivations behind this wrongful termination will be exposed."

This is a proposed termination so the district will now go through the formal steps to end his employment.

CBS News Texas reached out to the district for comment and is waiting for a response.

J.D. Miles

J.D. Miles is an award-winning reporter who has been covering North Texas for CBS 11 since 1996.

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Allegations of policy violations led to Arredondo’s paid suspension in September after two months on the job in Grand Prairie. He then sued the district and trustees, alleging he had been denied the chance to defend himself against their claims.

The Grand Prairie ISD school board voted Monday night to dismiss suspended superintendent Jorge Arredondo, who spent more than a decade as a principal and administrator in Houston ISD.

The 5-2 vote came after months of controversy and legal back-and-forth between Arredondo and Grand Prairie ISD, which serves an area west of Dallas.

Following a nearly two-hour-long closed session, the board approved a motion to terminate Arredondo’s contract “for the reasons discussed by the board in closed session and as presented in the written notice of proposed termination that we were authorized in council to send him.”

Voting to terminate the contract were board President Amber Moffitt, Nancy Bridges, Bryan Parra, Terry Brooks, and Emily Liles. Trustees Gloria Carrillo and David Espinosa voted not to terminate.

There was no public discussion among members.

In a statement about the meeting, the district said the vote authorized attorneys to notify Arredondo of his proposed termination.

“After a thorough investigation and the advice of legal counsel, I am confident that we made the right decision based on policy and the Texas Education Code," Moffitt said in the statement.

Arredondo was hired by a unanimous vote in June to lead the district.

Allegations of policy violations led to his paid suspension in September after two months on the job. He then sued the district and trustees, 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.

Trustees heard from a dozen speakers prior to their closed session Monday night, most of them in support of Arredondo.

Ana Coca, past president of the Grand Prairie League of United Latin American Citizens, urged the board to reinstate the superintendent.

"Dr. Arredondo has the tools to make this a premiere [district]," she said. "I've been here more than 30 years. Please, I implore you, do the right thing today. Bring him back.”

She asked the board to give Arredondo “parameters” and then consider the matter in another six months.

“Our kids need us more than ever," she said.

Speaker Angela Luckey-Vaughn disagreed.

“If a person had violated the law or any policy,” she told trustees, “you’ve got to hold them accountable to what that law says, the violation and whatever that policy says.”

Arredondo was previously granted a temporary restraining order preventing trustees from considering his dismissal, but that order was voided when Grand Prairie ISD requested the case be moved to federal court.

Arredondo's attorney, Mary Nix, called the board’s decision “ill-advised” and said it “will only result in further legal action against the district and individual board members.”

She said there is no evidence Arredondo violated district policy and that while he is disappointed, “he remains confident that his name will be cleared and the motivations behind this wrongful termination will be exposed.”

In addition to Houston ISD, where Arredondo served as a campus principal and then as an assistant superintendent from 2014-19, he also has worked as an administrator in Spring ISD north of Houston.

Grand Prairie ISD board fires superintendent

After months of controversy and legal battles, the Grand Prairie ISD school board voted to fire Doctor Jorge Arredondo. This comes less than 6 months after he was hired.

The Brief

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The Grand Prairie Independent School District’s new superintendent has officially been fired just six months after he was hired.

School board members voted 5-2 during a special meeting on Monday night to terminate Dr. Jorge Arredondo "for the reasons discussed in closed session."

They had to listen to an onslaught of public comments after that.

"I think we need to be honest about this entire situation," said Alfred Castillo, a Grand Prairie resident.

"I believe you have made a huge error. This man came to make changes. He started making the changes, and he got kicked out, which is not correct," said Lupe Castillo, another resident.

"He’s here to worry about change and fix the independent school district here in Grand Prairie. Now, look at your records. You are not doing that great. You haven’t been doing that great for some time. He’s here to change that. And if you don’t give the man the power to do that, you’re going to be forever failures. You’re going to fail," added Gil Cerda, a Grand Prairie ISD grandparent.

Dr. Arredondo has been on paid leave for nearly three months for reasons that have never been explained fully.

Related

The temporary restraining order preventing the district from terminating Dr, Jorge Arredondo's contract is no longer in effect after the district's motion to move the case to federal court. His lawyer says the move leave's him vulnerable once again to being fired.

Only court documents have indicated he’s accused of violating the district’s discrimination, harassment, and retaliation policy.

At least one public commenter talked about the information from the court case surrounding the matter.

"The outside independent firm conducted more than 40 interviews with district personnel, held a 2 ½ hour interview with Dr. Arredondo during which he was accompanied by legal counsel. So, any claim that he didn’t know what the allegations were is simply not true," said Rodney Anderson, a former state representative.

Arredondo sued the board for breach of contract and received a court order preventing the district from firing him. But that temporary restraining order became invalid when the board petitioned for the case to be moved to federal court.

Related

Concerned parents in Grand Prairie are calling for transparency after the district’s superintendent was placed on leave. He’s under investigation, but only trustees know why.

"The board is not giving him an opportunity to defend his actions performed during the brief time he has been our superintendent," said Gracie Cortez, a resident.

Arredondo’s attorney released a statement following the board’s decision to fire him.

"This is an ill-advised decision that will only result in further legal action against the district and individual board members… Dr. Arredondo is obviously disappointed, as are many in the Grand Prairie community. However, he remains confident that his name will be cleared and the motivations behind this wrongful termination will be exposed," the statement said.

Arredondo was hired on June 24.

It's unclear if he plans to appeal his termination.

The Source

After months of deliberation and meetings, the Grand Prairie ISD board officially ousted Arredondo in a 5-2 vote.

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GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — During a Monday board meeting, Grand Prairie ISD voted 5-2 to fire Superintendent Jorge Arredondo.

After a closed-door session, board members moved to terminate Arredondo's contract with the district. The two opposing votes came from Trustee David Espinosa and Trustee Gloria Carrillo, who have both publicly supported Arredondo in previous meetings.

“After a thorough investigation and the advice of legal counsel, I am confident that we made the right decision based on policy and the Texas Education Code,” said GPISD Board President Amber Moffitt.

District officials say Deputy Superintendent of Business Operations Tracy Ray will continue as acting superintendent and next steps will be announced later.

Arredondo's attorney released the following statement after the board's vote:

"This is an ill-advised decision that will only result in further legal action against the district and individual board members. Throughout his brief tenure Dr. Arredondo acted solely in the interests of the district’s students and faculty, and no credible evidence has been produced that he violated any district policy. Dr. Arredondo is obviously disappointed, as are many in the Grand Prairie community. However, he remains confident that his name will be cleared and the motivations behind this wrongful termination will be exposed."

The motion comes after months of deliberation, meetings and closed-door sessions surrounding Arredondo's future with the district.

Arredondo was named lone finalist for GPISD superintendent on May 28, and has been on the district's payroll since July 8. In September, the board placed Arredondo on administrative leave, pending an investigation into an alleged violation of a policy that prohibits discrimination and harassment.

In October, the GPISD board voted to move forward with the separation from Arredondo after learning the results of the investigation. The details around the policy violation have been sparse, and district parents and community members have been critical of GPISD for a lack of transparency surrounding the investigation.

It was also revealed that two other administrators that Arredondo brought with him to the district were put on paid leave just one day after the superintendent.

In October, Arredondo filed a lawsuit against GPISD, accusing the Board of Trustees of wrongfully placing him on leave and making defamatory statements.

He described the district's investigation into his conduct as a “witch hunt” and claimed the district does not have good cause to terminate his contract. Grand Prairie ISD and members of the Board of Trustees are named in the filing.

"I am deeply committed to the students, staff, and community of Grand Prairie ISD,” Arredondo said in a press release after filing the lawsuit. “It is essential that we uphold the principles of fairness and due process to maintain the integrity of our educational system and return our collective focus to providing exceptional educational opportunities for every student."

It is unclear how much, if any, compensation Arredondo will be entitled to upon his contract's termination.

Arredondo's contract includes a "good cause" termination clause in which the district's board may fire him for any number of reasons, including "failure to fulfill duties or responsibilities" of the job. A number of other reasons that would justify firing for good cause were outlined in the contract.

Also, the contract said that if Arredondo's contract was voided or terminated for any reason then he would be paid for days worked prior to the date of termination but not be entitled to further compensation or benefits, unless agreed upon by him and the district. It was unclear if Arredondo and the district agreed to compensation terms not outlined in the contract.