Yet, they don’t even know why Grand Prairie ISD suspended him

More news last week out of Grand Prairie ISD (Dallas metroplex) about the mystery surrounding the Sept. 4 suspension of PSJA ISD’s former superintendent, Dr. Jorge Arredondo, EdD. Call it the “fast track.” When Arredondo was suspended, he had been at his new desk for only two months.

According to Board President Amber Moffitt in a news release:

“Because this is an ongoing investigation, there will be no additional comment from this Board. We believe all parties will be treated fairly with a high level of professionalism by the outside third-party law firm that is conducting the investigation.”

He’s Fluent in Spanish?

Without anyone knowing the reasons why the board chose to suspend Arredondo two weeks ago, nevertheless, representatives from LULAC and some Hispanic members of the Grand Prairie ISD community came out in a show of support for him during a board meeting last week with the expressed purpose of responding to some community concerns.

The GP Sept. 4th board vote to suspend Arredondo was 5-2. The two trustees who voted nay are both Hispanic, one male, one female. The male Hispanic trustee kicked Arredondo’s suspension into overdrive, pouring gas on the situation when he went on the record, calling it a “witch hunt.”

At last week’s board meeting, words were tossed around in support of the suspended supe:

“He’s a leader who represents their kids.”

Meaning, as pointed out in multiple media outlets, Arredondo can speak Spanish and he comes from Mexican roots.

Yeah, but aren’t they interested in what he might have done to cause the board to suspend him, 5-2, pending a formal inquiry into whatever allegations have been filed against him?

Apparently not.

His profile, Hispanic, fluent in Spanish, apparently supersedes his ability or inability to properly serve as superintendent of a large school district. GP’s student population is approximately 27,000 students for which Arredondo is being paid a base salary of $317,000.

Grand Prairie is using an outside third-party law firm to conduct an investigation, so when Grand Prairie parents, some, are clamoring for “transparency,” why not give the process some time to sort out everything?

Instead, at last week’s Grand Prairie board meeting, one woman of Mexican heritage told 5 NBCDWF that, “Grand Prairie is 67 percent Hispanic, (my children don’t have representation right now).”

Seriously? Why? Because an Anglo supe or Black superintendent can’t represent your kids?

In other words, this mom is already teaching her kids to see the world through a lens that focuses on division, not unity.

Split the country into tribes. That will work. The white tribe, vs. the black tribe, vs. the Hispanic tribe, vs. the Asian tribe, vs. the Gay tribe.

No wonder America’s in such a sad state.

Reps from LULAC have also voiced support for Arredondo, the same guy who had scored so poorly when he was at PSJA ISD from 2019 through 2022, and at Houston ISD before that. (Just my opinion.)

On another local Dallas metroplex TV station covering last week’s Grand Prairie ISD meeting, she said, “He’s a leader who represents their kids.”

Which begs the question, why does the superintendent have to be a Hispanic and speak Spanish to adequately “represent their kids.”

Speedy investigation with due diligence for both Arredondo and the school district. That was made note of during last week’s meeting, but the board adjourned with still no word on how long that will take.

I’m guessing months.

An Interesting Book

Last but not least, if you want to get another look at Jorge Arredondo and the time he spent at Houston ISD, grab a copy of “Whispers of Hope – The Story of My Life.”

The book was written by former Houston ISD Principal Bertie Simmons, an educator of 58 years who died in 2021.

Amazon and Barnes both have the book for sale ($8.99), which was published in November 2019, right about the time Arredondo got the supe’s job in South Texas at PSJA ISD.

As spelled out in a news story published Sept. 5, 2024, by The Dallas Express, written by Sydney Asher, Bertie Simmons says of Arredondo in her book:

“(He is a) conniving politician without a moral compass that’s willing to bend the rules to get what he wants.”

The book is worth a read.

After Simmons was instrumental in getting a $10 million grant for the Houston ISD high school where she served as principal, Furr High School, Arredondo (allegedly) suddenly accused her of rigging the game, so to speak. He alleged, without any proof, according to Simmons, that she had cheated by changing students’ grades and attendance records.

From the Dallas Express story:

“Simmons said she believes that $10 million in grant money that her school won put a target on her back. The campus was awarded the money after Simmons helped turn a formerly gang-infiltrated school into a successful high school with a more than 90 percent graduation rate.”

According to Simmons, Arredondo wanted to get his hands on the $10 million and spread it throughout the district, presumably to his pet projects, but the big grant could only be spent on the high school.

In Simmons’ book, she wrote, “I had a growing distaste for Jorge Arredondo, and he was apparently not aware enough to know I knew of his intention to get rid of me and to get control of the ten million dollars. To add insult to attempted injury, I learned that one of my English teachers was boasting that she did not have to do anything I said because she was friends with Arredondo.” (Source: Dallas Express.)

This was, by the way, the same tactic he used at PSJA ISD. He would create an inner circle loyal to him, and give few others the time of day.

No way to prove or disprove what Bertie Simmons wrote in her book, but it does offer added insight to the columns I wrote about Arredondo and his time at PSJA ISD. None of it good, in my opinion.

The guy’s only talent: turning a successful district (PSJA ISD) upside down not long after his arrival, forming cliques, forming a majority board alliance that would always have his back, and creating terrible morale in the district he had been hired to lead.

But he is fluent in Spanish, has a Spanish surname, and his family roots, indeed Mexican.

What he may have done wrong at Grand Prairie ISD should be completely ignored, based on what the internal investigation uncovers.

Would anyone say that about the superintendent if he was Chris the Cracker?

Don’t think so.