Dathan Trevino HARLINGEN – The Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District board has accepted the resignation of Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez in a unanimous vote and appointed an interim today.
The decision came from today’s special board meeting held at the Harlingen CISD Administration building. Gonzalez was appointed superintendent on Sept. 1, 2023.
He was not present during the meeting.
Deputy Superintendent Veronica Kortan was reappointed as the interim superintendent after serving last year in May.
As the meeting began, numerous speakers, consisting of parents, teachers and staff, came to the podium to speak their thoughts on the agenda item regarding the superintendent’s resignation.
Some of the concerns mentioned during the public comment period included an alleged private driver that Gonzalez hired and other claims of “wasted spending.”
Harlingen resident Lorraine Galarza said she had asked the board to terminate Gonzalez since May, alleging “gross negligence,” and stated she had to take matters into her own hands.
“Since you all failed your duties to protect the children in this school district, I had no choice but to pull out my grandson and place him in a private school,” Galarza said.
Attendee Nacer Aounallah spoke on his issues with the board itself, stating it was not properly notifying the public of its meetings, which goes against the Texas Open Meetings Act.
“Under 551.056, it requires you, it requires you to post a meeting notice and a meeting agenda on the HCISD website,” Aounallah said.
Kortan said she is excited to work along the entire school community.
“We’ve all [have to] come together to make sure our students are going to have that quality education,” she said.
President Greg Powers said the board will be unable to make any further statements regarding Gonzalez’s resignation.
“I want to thank Dr. Kortan for accepting the role of interim superintendent during this transition and please know that you have the full support of this board,” Powers said.
