Pflugerville - Hutto Edition | February 2022

A series of events led to a decision from the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees to temporarily suspend Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez. STRING OF ISSUES

MAY 21, 2021 The RRISD board announces Hafedh Azaiez as the sole finalist for the superintendent position.

JULY 28, 2021 A protective order against Azaiez alleging assault in his personal life is filed in the 53rd Travis County District Court.

JUNE 14, 2021 Azaiez is hired as superintendent in a 5-2 vote.

NOVEMBER 2021 RRISD announces the selection of former Carroll ISD Superintendent David Faltys as the district’s TEA monitor.

JAN. 3, 2022 The RRISD Board of Trustees considers the recommendation from the TEA, but takes no action.

AUGUST 2021 The Texas Education Agency informs the RRISD board it will be assigned a monitor

DEC. 15, 2021 The RRISD board receives a memo from the TEA recommending Azaiez be placed on leave.

JULY 5, 2021 Azaiez has his first day as superintendent in RRISD.

JAN. 6, 2022 Trustees appoint Daniel Presley as acting superintendent and hire an external investigator.

while Azaiez has remained under investigation since the July report filing, no arrests have been made and no charges related to the assault allegations have been filed against him. A representative from the TEA also confirmed the agency has been investigating Azaiez since Septem- ber, but withheld information regarding the source of the investigation and the number of any pending complaints against him following an information request. When the board voted 6-1 to place Azaiez on administrative leave, Place 1 Trustee Jun Xiao was the lone “no” vote, but he has not responded to requests for comment on why. Xiao announced Jan. 28 via social media he plans to resign at the next board meeting in February. He said in the announcement it was a long-delayed deci- sion but provided no further comment when asked for a follow-up statement. A GROWING LIST OF ISSUES Over the last year, Round Rock ISD has been at the center of several controversies, some of which made national news. Early 2021: the board, district residents repeatedly clash over COVID-19 policy Spring 2021: the board, district residents engage in dispute over hiring of new superintendent August 2021: RRISD is assigned a monitor over accusations at former board member September 2021: two parents are arrested days after board meeting; trustees face censure over behavior, other matters November 2021: two trustees begin appearing on national media to air grievances over district January 2022: superintendent is placed on leave pending investigation

SOURCE: ROUND ROCK ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

The TEA recommendation At the Jan. 6 RRISD meeting, board president Amber Feller said her repeated requests to the TEA for the information that led Faltys to issue his recom- mendation have so far been ignored. She said she had effectively been told by TEA offi- cials to take the recommendation at face value. On Jan. 6, Feller said she approved the recommen- dation because she did not view themeasure to place Azaiez on leave as an adverse action, and because she was told to do so by TEA officials. “I will be making my vote tonight without all of the relevant facts that we, as his employer, should be entitled to,” she said at the Jan. 6 meeting. Feller said the only comfort she garnered from the decision came from the fact that administrative leave is not an adverse employment action, and at the conclusion of the board’s investigation, Azaiez should be able to return to work if there is no finding of wrongdoing. During a Jan. 20 RRISD board meeting, officials consulted with the investigator and the board’s legal counsel, but made no public motions. The board also considered an item in closed ses- sion to select an interim superintendent to fill the role if the investigation leads to his firing. The board again took no action and did not discuss any implications surrounding a potential interim superintendent hire. Next steps Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, RRISD chief of public affairs and communications, told Community Impact Newspaper the board selected an investigator Jan. 6

but did not provide the person’s name. The investi- gator also beganworking on the case the week of Jan. 10. LaCoste-Caputo said the motion authorized Feller to review resumes provided by the board’s attorneys and select an investigator. So far, no parties involved in the investigation have divulged specific dates pertaining to coming action. Lawyer Mary Goodrich Nix, who represents Azaiez, told Community Impact Newspaper the pro- tective order against her client was allowed to expire in December, and that Azaiez had agreed to a private restraining order with the complainant in a confiden- tial settlement agreement. “The Travis County Court never issued any find- ings of an assault in the temporary ex parte protective order, which are routinely issued by the court based solely on the complainant’s allegations, without the knowledge or the ability of the accused person—in this instance, Dr. Azaiez—to refute the allegations,” Nix said in her statement. Nix also said the claims of abuse against Azaiez have already been investigated by the TEA and the district’s investigation is a “waste of tax dollars.” “There is no need for the Round Rock ISD, at the urging of the TEA, to waste taxpayer dollars to con- duct a duplicative investigation of an alleged assault, about which the TEA has been investigating since September 2021,” Nix said.

For more information, visit communityimpact.com .

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PFLUGERVILLE - HUTTO EDITION • FEBRUARY 2022

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