Judge blocks Grand Prairie ISD from firing its superintendent
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - A judge temporarily blocked Grand Prairie ISD from firing its new superintendent, who was suspended just weeks into the job.
The decision came the same day GPISD Superintendent Jorge Arredondo sued the school board over what he calls a ‘violation of his contractual and constitutional rights.’
The board was set to meet Thursday to potentially take action on his employment.
The temporary restraining order is like hitting the pause button on the process for the Grand Prairie ISD school board to move forward with terminating Arredondo.
According to his attorney, Arredondo is still in the dark about any allegations, and Grand Prairie ISD isn’t offering any more insight.
The school board is blocked from making any decisions regarding the superintendent’s future after a Dallas County judge granted a temporary restraining order on Monday.
The board was set to discuss Arredondo’s employment at a meeting on Thursday.
Arredondo’s attorney, Mary Nix tells FOX 4 the superintendent claims he’s still unaware of what allegations led him to be placed on leave on September 4, weeks into the job.
"It pauses everything with the process, and it essentially restrains the board from moving forward in a process towards terminating his employment," she said. "It gives Dr. Arredondo an opportunity to get the court's help in ensuring fairness and transparency in the process."
All that the board of trustees shared was that a third-party firm was conducting an investigation into ‘potential policy violations.’
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"The lawsuit was filed to give him the opportunity to do that, to understand the allegations and to defend himself from anything that may be out there," Nix said. "We don't know whether there's anything legitimately out there or not."
Earlier this month, the board of trustees discussed the findings of the investigation behind closed doors and voted that Arredondo had violated district policy.
In a statement to FOX 4 on Tuesday about the recent lawsuit, GPISD said, "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."
The restraining order is in place until October 28.
Nix hopes during that time Arredondo and the district are able to discuss the matter and come to a resolution.
"The best way to work out disputes is really in a more personal and private way," she said. "And I do hope that the parties are able to do that."
Nix said she’s spoken to the district’s attorney, but there is no planned meeting between the two parties at this time.
There is a court hearing scheduled for the morning of October 28, the day the order expires.
According to the online agenda, Arredondo’s employment is still listed as an item of discussion for Thursday’s school board meeting.