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This story has been updated following a statement issued by the district at 9:41 p.m.
An acrimonious board meeting of the Judson Independent School District ended abruptly Saturday with the withdrawal of a motion to relieve Superintendent Milton Fields of his duties.
Trustees then voted 6-1 to “proceed as discussed in closed session,” leading journalists and the public to believe Fields remained at the helm.
However, a statement sent to news outlets four hours after the end of the meeting clarified that the superintendent had been placed on leave after all.
“The District’s Superintendent, Dr. Milton ‘Rob’ Fields, III, has been placed on administrative leave with pay in accordance with the Board’s motion at today’s meeting,” said the statement sent from the email account of Judson’s chief communications officer.
“Further, Dr. Lacey Gosch will serve as Acting Superintendent until further notice. Since this involves confidential personnel matters, we will not be commenting any further. The District remains focused on the core functions of serving students, supporting staff, and maintaining a stable learning environment for the community,” the statement, which said it was from Board President Monica Ryan, went on to say.
TPR texted Ryan for confirmation of the statement’s accuracy. Ryan said their lawyer had recommended the vague language at the end of the meeting, but the 6-1 vote at the end of the meeting was to place Fields on leave and appoint an acting superintendent.
Trustee Lesley Lee, one of three new board members elected in May, made the original motion to relieve Fields and place him on paid administrative leave “pending an investigation” into unnamed “reported concerns.”
However, members of the public and some trustees made it clear they believed Ryan was the one truly instigating the push to remove the superintendent.
Before making the motion, Lee said she was heartbroken and believed Fields was a good man.
“This is my agenda, so there’s no finger pointing anymore,” Lee said.
After nearly three hours of discussion in closed session, Lee withdrew the motion to place Fields on leave and made the new motion to “proceed as discussed in closed session.”
Members of the Judson community, including multiple former board members and a man who taught Fields when he was a Judson student, packed the board room on Saturday to support the superintendent after the agenda of the specially called meeting was posted mid-week.
During public comments they called the superintendent a man of character and integrity, and the move to remove him from leadership a witch hunt.
“Dr. Fields is doing great work. He needs to not be removed,” said Amber Gonzales, the principal of Copperfield Elementary and one of the nearly 30 people who spoke in support of the superintendent. “He needs our support. He needs a board that works with him in unison and not against him. He needs a board that does not tie his hands and instead allows him to do his job that he was hired to do for this district.”
Local optometrist and community member Charlinda Nance said the move against Fields was personal for her because she had block walked for Ryan.
“When people came to me and said, ‘We voted for her because you vouched for her.’ I did. In the beginning, I said, ‘Let’s not confuse her passion for aggression.’ This is aggression. This is planned,” Nance said.
“And if we’re going to put him on administrative leave or terminate his employment, show me a write up. Show me an improvement plan,” Nance added. “Show me where we tried to work together to make this district better as a whole.”
P.J. Cabrera, a local professor and former Judson journalism teacher pointed out that Fields is one of only a few Black superintendents in Texas.
“If you remove the superintendent in this way you are going to cause chaos, a mass exodus of faculty and staff and family and students, and you guys will be known for removing one of the few superintendents of color in the state of Texas,” Cabrera said.
Saturday was the eighth time the Judson school board agenda has included a discussion of the superintendent’s duties or responsibilities since the May election changed the makeup of the board, and the third time the agenda included possible action on his employment.
However, it was the first time the discussion was moved from closed to open session. Discussion in closed session was not even on the agenda, but the board moved discussion behind closed doors after longtime trustees Laura Stanford, Suzanne Kenoyer, and José Macias Jr. pushed for it.
Stanford, Kenoyer, and Macias said they had no idea what the basis of the investigation was, and the board needed to go into closed session to discuss legal concerns and personnel matters.
“I don’t know what he did wrong. I’ve not heard any allegations,” Stanford said. “The last written document we have about Dr. Fields is a good evaluation.”
“This is a railroad job. This needs to be postponed until all of us know what these alleged allegations are. Because, frankly, I don’t believe it,” added Kenoyer.
Board President Monica Ryan accused them of lying when they said they didn’t know what it was about.
“To hear fellow board members just lie to the public at this point, when we know via the emails that they have been in receipt of the same emails as seven board members have, that’s just super disappointing that they can’t just be truthful with the public and are pretending they don’t know what this is about,” Ryan said.
“That’s not true. Quit calling us liars, please,” Stanford replied.
The superintendent also seemed unaware of what the allegations were about. At one point, he offered to clarify matters in public, mistaking the motion to put him on leave with pay for an allegation about pay.
“We have the people around the dais who can answer any pay questions. We can go ahead and ask the question, and we could talk about it now,” Fields said.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think I heard anything about pay,” Ryan responded.
“I’m still free to talk about whatever it is,” Fields replied.
Fields also broke up the tense back and forth between trustees accusing each other of lying and asked them to please go into closed session.
“Investigate what you need to, but please, let’s stop this. This is only a further embarrassment to the district, and it only affects the classrooms even more,” Fields said.
Trustees eventually voted 4-3 to go into closed session to speak with an attorney, with Stephanie Jones voting with Stanford, Kenoyer, and Macias.
They briefly returned to open session to vote to add a discussion of personnel matters to the closed session and went back behind closed doors for more than two hours.
Macias was the only trustee to vote against Lee’s motion to “proceed as discussed in closed session.”
Great Job Camille Phillips & the Team @ Texas Public Radio for sharing this story.
