Prosper ISD will appoint new board president with newly-elected board members in May
PROSPER, Texas - After a four-hour executive session, the Prosper ISD School Board decided they will not have a special election for Prosper voters to elect a new president.
Instead, the board picked Board Member Debra Smith to lead until May. Two other positions are up for election in May. Following that election, the board will then appoint a president to serve for the next year.
Former President Andrew Wilborn was arrested two weeks ago on child indecency charges.
Dallas police said while acting as an executive pastor at Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Southwest Dallas, Wilborn sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl. The church immediately cut ties with him once it learned of the investigation last year.
However, Prosper ISD said it didn’t know about the allegations until the arrest.
Wilborn was under investigation at the same time he and the prosper school board faced a lawsuit after being accused of failing to protect kids from a bus driver who molested two girls.
RELATED: Parents sue Prosper ISD, alleging bus driver sexually abused their daughters
Eileen Riverside had a child on that bus and spoke Tuesday night.
"With the latest arrest, I have so many emotions," she said.
Prosper parents criticized Prosper ISD for its lack of transparency on that case.
On Tuesday, several parents were in the board room once again, like James Pope, who said he spoke to Wilborn the night before his arrest.
Newly released documents detail indecency with a child allegations against Prosper ISD school board president
In the arrest warrant affidavit, the complainant describes an April 2022 incident after a church service in an area where food was being provided. The girl told investigators Wilborn twice touched her inappropriately.
"It was total shock. It was about normal stuff about the district and what was going on and the concern," he said. "There was nothing that came across any other way."
The majority of Prosper parents who spoke during public comment Tuesday wanted a special election.
"If you make an appointment, you are making a mistake," one parent said. "And you guys have to be about doing the right thing."
"Based on previous history of the board, we do not trust you to appoint another person," another parent said. "Because the one you appointed as president was just arrested. He chastised us about being respectful, but he was not respectful."
Some parents, including a teacher, pushed for the board to decide on their own.
"Having been a resident long enough to vote when y’all were on the ballot, I do feel like my voice would be heard if you chose to appoint place 7," the teacher said.
As soon as the board came out of executive session, Board Member Garrett Linker motioned to have a special election for a new president, but there wasn’t a second.
Therefore, the board decided it will appoint a new president with the newly-elected board in May.