GISD board members appoint interim superintendent
Submitted by jcht2010 on
By Lisa Shapiro
Staff Writer
When choosing an interim superintendent, Ganado ISD Board of Trustees interviewed two candidates with Ganado ISD pasts.
Given a choice between Ganado Independent School District athletic director, football coach and administrative assistant Tom Jones and former Ganado High School principal John Hardwick, board members appointed Hardwick with a 6-0 vote after about three hours of executive session on May 21.
He temporarily replaces GISD Superintendent Jeff Black who recently was put on paid administrative leave pending an investigation of a child abuse allegation, according to GISD attorney Roger Hepworth. The decision was made at the last regular board meeting on May 15. Putting the superintendent on administrative leave was not on the agenda. Board members did not discuss the allegation in the open session portion of the meeting.
Hepworth said the school board is being cautious. “We don’t know if the allegations are true,” he said.
“It should allow him to focus on personal matters,” Ganado ISD Board of Trustees President Pierce Thedford Jr. said. “Any other matters on Jeff Black is confidential and I can’t share any other information.”
Black could not be reached for comment. He did not attend the May 21 special meeting.
Ganado Police Chief Rodney Roberson said Black is accused of allegedly abusing a female teenager. Roberson said if the incident occurred it wasn’t recent and didn’t occur during school or at school property. Child Protective Services is currently investigating the allegation, he said. It has not been determined what kind of abuse took place.
Both interim candidates were interviewed during a special called meeting May 21 by six board members, principals of all GISD schools, a business manager, a plant supervisor and a representative from the district's financial department. Board member Michael Luera was not present.
Jones was athletic director and football coach for Ganado ISD between 1982 to 1991. He spent the last three of those years as administrative assistant. He is now retired, though he works as an education consultant in Blessing. Jones said he wanted to be interim superintendent at Ganado ISD because he knows many of the teachers and faculty members, liked it was in a small town, it was a good place for students, good schools and good personnel. He was willing to help out the district in any way.
Hardwick was principal at Ganado High School about 25 years ago in between 1988 to 1992. He was superintendent at Beeville ISD from 2004 until 2010 when he retired. Since then, Hardwick has spent the last three years as interim superintendent for many districts in Region 3 and is looking forward for his time at Ganado ISD. He was interim superintendent for Westhoff ISD in 2010 and recently Nordheim ISD.
In a phone interview, Hardwick said there are plenty of things to accomplish at Ganado ISD. He will be paid the same daily rate as Black, $433.63. Therefore, the district will now be responsible for paying both salaries simultaneously. Hardwick said he signed the contract early in the morning on May 22 and began work immediately. He isn’t sure how long he will be interim superintendent. He has already had the opportunity to meet with staff and students.
He said he enjoyed his time at Ganado when he was high school principal. Hardwick said he enjoyed working with board members, staff, community members and students and is glad to have the opportunity to come back.
“It looks like it is going to be fun and worthwhile,” Hardwick said.
Thedford said both candidates had impressive backgrounds and were highly recommended by people the board members know that are reliable sources.
“Both of them are very strong candidates for this position,” he said.
Currently, the school board is in the process of working on the 2015 school budget. Thedford said Hardwick will be able to help out with that process.
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