BREAKING NEWS:
NORTH FOREST CONFRONTS TEA IN DEFIANCE, VOTES SIMPSON AS NEW SUPERINTENDENT; STATE OVERTURNS VOTE
In a dramatic meeting Monday night, North Forest ISD school board voted 4-3 to rehire Dr. James Simpson as the Superintendent of the district. This came in spite of warnings from Texas Education Agency representative Ron Rowell that the vote was overridden by the authority of the state, and had no legal status. Members of the board all evening had hurled criticism at the TEA and its representatives who are working with the staff, Henry Boening and Ron Rowell. The vote was seen as a defiance of the state’s intervention in the district, which faces financial and academic problems that it might not be able to solve on it’s own. Rowell cautioned that the district had been placed on an Academic Accreditation PENDING status, which could lead to more serious sanctions and even dissolution. After tempers flared, the sides cooled and agreed to have their attorneys meet to discuss the legal standing of the vote. However, TEA’s Rowell closed the meeting with the notice that Simpson was not the new superintendent.
MORE ON THIS STORY TO FOLLOW. SEE THE NORTHEAST NEWS AND THE NORTH FOREST NEWS PRINT EDITIONS.
