Board trustees for the Judson Independent School District have chosen yet another interim superintendent to temporarily lead the district amid a budget deficit, board in-fighting and a school closure process.
The decision comes only two weeks after the board kicked off the termination process for Superintendent Milton Fields for reasons officials have not made public.
After first placing Fields on administrative leave in January, the board appointed Assistant Superintendent Lacey Gosch as acting superintendent then chose Mary Duhart-Toppen, deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, as interim on Feb. 4.
On Monday night, trustees voted 5-1 to replace Duhart-Toppen with Robert Jaklich effective the next day.
Trustee Jose Macias Jr. was the lone vote against hiring Jaklich, and Trustee Suzanne Kenoyer left the meeting before the board voted after getting into a verbal spat with Board President Monica Ryan about the interim hiring process.
Before heading into closed session, Kenoyer questioned why the board was making a decision, saying the board hadn’t discussed hiring another interim before Monday’s meeting.
Ryan rebutted, saying the board had discussed replacing Duhart-Toppen during a closed meeting on Saturday, Feb. 14.
“We did not discuss changing interim superintendents during our last meeting,” said Kenoyer. “This is a very destabilizing mistake to make.”
“Maybe you forgot,” Ryan replied, later asking school officers to escort Kenoyer out of the building for being “out of order.” Kenoyer ended up leaving the meeting on her own and accused Ryan of not following the Texas Open Meetings Act and not being transparent.
Both Kenoyer and Macias said it was unclear which board member placed the interim hiring decision on Monday night’s board agenda. Agendas are subject to oversight from the board president and district administration, but the state mandates that agendas must be made public three business days before a meeting.
Ryan and Macias are often at odds, and both face investigations launched on Monday from two different law firms for alleged misconduct and abuse of power.
Like Macias and Kenoyer, Trustee Laura Stanford expressed similar desire to slow the hiring process down. She said there was public perception that the board was acting secretively and that Duhart-Toppen, a longtime employee of Judson, was being unfairly treated.
“The process is very troubling,” Stanford said. “We’re going to have to do something to overcome that.”
Stanford did vote in favor of hiring Jaklich, who was sitting in the audience at the meeting. Speaking directly to Jaklich, Stanford said she hoped he could start “healing” the relationship between the board and district personnel, who often make policy and budget recommendations that get a pushback from a faction of the board led by Ryan.
A familiar face
Jaklich is no newcomer to the San Antonio area. A longtime district administrator, Jaklich was interim Superintendent for San Antonio ISD from 2021 to 2022, before the district hired current Superintendent Jaime Aquino.
Before that, Jaklich led Harlandale ISD from 2008 to 2012, later heading Victoria ISD from 2012 to 2018 and retiring.
He’ll be the fourth leader Judson has had in roughly two months, in charge of the fourth-largest district in the area, which is currently facing a $35 million budget deficit.
Judson has also gone without a chief executive officer since October of last year, and is currently undergoing a school closure process.
Before hiring Jaklich, the board voted to close Judson Middle School at the end of the school year and is expected to choose three elementary campuses for consolidation on Feb. 24.
Despite the board squabbles, most trustees spoke favorably of Jaklich.
Macias, who was late to the meeting because of work obligations and who voted against hiring him, said he likes Jaklich, but he would’ve asked to interview other candidates.
“Maybe outside help will be helpful to us,” Stanford said. “He’s a communicator and a bridge builder.”
