After a bitter, months-long saga, the board for Judson Independent School District officially fired Superintendent Milton “Rob” Fields in a 4-3 vote Tuesday night.
Based on an internal investigation, along with witness and expert testimony, Board President Monica Ryan said the report established “good cause” to terminate Fields’ contract, which was supposed to end June 30, 2028.
Ryan laid out all of the findings in a six-minute speech, listing over 30 reasons for firing Fields, including several mentions of financial and academic mismanagement, failure to disclose internal and state investigations into educator misconduct at Judson, failure to report child abuse allegations, creating a hostile and retaliatory work environment and failing to disclose a substantiated sexual harassment complaint.
After the meeting, the district released a four-page statement signed by Ryan, summarizing the findings.
“The Board of Trustees recognizes this moment as a meaningful turning point for our district,” the statement read. “While difficult, it represents an important reset and a renewed commitment to transparency, student safety, strong leadership, and academic excellence.”
Last night’s findings come nearly four months after the board first placed Fields on administrative leave in January, when trustees received a mysterious email complaint against Fields that’s been alluded to but never publicly disclosed.
In February, the board began the official termination process, hiring a law firm to conduct an investigation into Fields and later naming Interim Superintendent Robert Jaklich to take Fields’ place.
At the same time, Judson has been dealing with a huge budget deficit, leading to the closure of four schools this year and cutting more than 500 positions. Several campuses also have failing ratings from the state, putting pressure on the district to improve academics quickly or risk possible intervention from the state.
Part of the allegations against Fields included failing to hire a chief financial officer after their last CFO resigned last year. Fields did make a recommendation to hire a candidate in November, but the board voted against the hire and the item hasn’t come up again on board agendas.
Trustee Jose Macias Jr., a longtime board member and friend of Fields, said Fields did the best he could with “what he was given,” pointing to the CFO issue to call out the long list of allegations against Fields as “a load of crap.”
He wanted the board to postpone taking a vote on termination and give Fields a chance to “gracefully” resign.
Trustee Laura Stanford agreed, saying the termination process was biased from the start. “It just seems like a laundry list and some of them are really unfair,” she said.
While Fields’ initially planned to fight the board’s decision, he later decided against it, citing a large cost to himself and the district, according to Macias.
Fields was not present at the meeting and did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Even before the board kicked off the process of firing Fields, board members and district administration often butted heads, especially when it came to budget decisions, slowing down financial solvency plans until recently.
The May 2025 elections brought in three new faces on the seven-member board: Amanda Poteet, Lesley Lee and Stephanie Jones.
Since then, several board votes concerning the budget have often been split among longer-serving trustees and the new guard, including Ryan who was elected in 2023 and stepped into the board president position last year.
The more tenured trustees — Macias, Stanford and Suzanne Kenoyer — tended to vote in line with recommendations from district administration, while Ryan and new board members dissented.
Tuesday’s vote to officially fire Fields was split along similar lines: Ryan, Poteet, Lee and Jones voted in favor while Macias, Stanford and Kenoyer voted against.
In Ryan’s statement, she says the termination action does not include any contractual buyout and all compensation and benefits associated with Fields’ contract cease immediately, “ensuring responsible stewardship of district resources.”
According to the superintendent’s employment contract, he was making just over $22,000 a month in salary and benefits. Had Fields been allowed to resign, he would have been eligible to receive a payout for unused leave days.
It’s unclear if or when the district will launch a search for a permanent superintendent.
“Dr. Jaklich is in the middle of a lot of really important things to move our district forward,” Ryan said in a text message. “The board has not discussed, but my gut is telling me we need to focus on getting through this school year and putting all the parts in place for next year to take care of our students, family, and staff — and pass a balanced budget — and then we can have the conversation about how best to move forward.”
