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Trustees at San Antonio’s Judson Independent School District voted last night to appoint another interim superintendent to temporarily lead the district.
Starting today, retired superintendent Robert Jaklich replaces Deputy Superintendent Mary Duhart-Toppen, who was on the job for less than two weeks.
Jaklich will be the fourth leader Judson will have had over the past two months. The board placed Superintendent Milton “Rob” Fields III on leave on Jan. 10. Judson Assistant Superintendent Lacey Goesch had the helm until Feb. 5, when the board voted 4-3 to begin termination proceedings against Milton.
The move means Judson ISD — the fourth largest school district in San Antonio — will have had four different leaders overseeing the district over the past two months.
Trustee Laura Stanford called the appointment process troubling and said it was unfair to the Deputy Superintendent. Stanford voiced hope that Jaklich could help the district turn a corner.
"Maybe outside help will be helpful to us. He's a communicator and a bridge builder, and you're going to have some real healing to do with the way personnel's been treated in this process, because it's definitely been lacking,” she said.
Jaklich served as interim superintendent at San Antonio Independent School District during COVID. He previously led Harlandale ISD as its superintendent from 2008 to 2012 and as superintendent of Victoria ISD from 2012 until his retirement in 2018.
The move to appoint another interim superintendent led to conflict between Board President Monica Ryan and Trustee Suzanne Kenoyer.
Kenoyer questioned how the interview for the interim position ended up on the agenda. She alleged Ryan violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by placing the item onto the board agenda with no prior discussion.
Ryan told Kenoyer she was out of order and called for a district officer to escort her out of the board room. Kenoyer chose to leave the meeting in protest rather than attending a closed session on the item.
Trustee José Macias, who was late to the meeting due to work commitments, agreed that there was no clarity as to what board member placed the item onto the agenda.
“I would have also liked to invite candidates to interview,” he said. “I don't have any personal concerns with (Jaklich) but what I have is personal concerns with how this process played out.”
Ryan and Macias are both facing investigations by two different law firms due to allegations stemming from the vote to terminate Fields.
In other news, Judson ISD trustees also voted Monday night to close Judson Middle School at the end of the school year amid the district's roughly $37 million budget deficit. It's scheduled to discuss possibly closing three elementary schools this Saturday.
