Edgewood Independent School District’s board of managers is scheduled to discuss Thursday the voluntary resignation of Superintendent Emilio Castro, who was the subject of an investigation into harassment claims by a district employee, according to an agenda posted Monday night.
The agenda states that the board of managers will meet Thursday night at 6 p.m. and will consult legal counsel in closed session regarding the “superintendent’s voluntary separation agreement.” The agenda, which was posted on the district’s website, further states that the board then will discuss the appointment of an interim superintendent and a superintendent search.
District officials said no further details will be available until Thursday’s meeting. Castro did not respond to an email, text message, and phone call from the Rivard Report seeking comment about whether he planned to resign.
The board placed Castro on paid leave Feb. 23, a week after Edgewood ISD employee Gloria D. Collins submitted a written complaint against Castro with the school district. She detailed what she said were three separate incidents of unwanted physical contact, including an alleged incident Feb. 16 during which the two were alone in her office. Collins also filed a report with the San Antonio Police Department.
Castro has denied the allegations against him, saying he looked forward to “the school board reviewing and investigating the complaint.” On the same day the board of managers placed Castro on leave, it hired Houston-based law firm Rogers Morris & Grover to execute a third-party investigation into the matter.
Over the duration of the investigation, Chief Academic Officer Phillip Chavez has been operating as the interim superintendent of the district, which serves approximately 10,000 students, more than 90 percent of which are economically disadvantaged.
Castro first came to the district in November 2016, after being selected by the board of managers, who took over the district from the elected board of trustees in May 2016.
As part of its investigation, Rogers Morris & Grover interviewed district employees the week following its hiring. On March 5, the law firm updated the board on the status of the investigation.
“We are hopeful that this matter will be concluded immediately after the District’s Spring Break” March 12-16, a statement from the district said.
The district’s legal counsel said that because an investigation update was not listed on the agenda, it would not be discussed separately at Thursday night’s meeting.
