The 4-3 vote came after nearly four hours of closed-door deliberations. Superintendent Milton Fields III has been in the role since May 2023.
SAN ANTONIO — Trustees at Judson ISD, San Antonio’s fourth-biggest school district, voted 4-3 to recommend firing Superintendent Milton Fields III at a special board meeting Wednesday night–the culmination of a process that one trustee who voted against the measure said she was “extremely disturbed by.”
Board President Monica Ryan said Wednesday that a recent investigation into Fields looked into complaints filed by more than 24 teachers against the superintendent, who has served in the role since May 2023. But trustees who voted to keep Fields in the role asserted the process has been an unfair one in which he hasn’t been able to defend himself in a public forum.
“All of it is bogus, all of it is BS,” said District 4 Trustee Jose Macias, who said there should have been a grievance hearing on the matter. “This is wrong what we’re doing. There’s an agenda here.”
Fields, who was not present at the meeting, has been on paid administrative leave since Jan. 10 amid the district investigation. The nature of that investigation has not been publicly shared, but Ryan on Wednesday said the complaints submitted by staff “rose to the level of legal good cause.”
“There were also additional serious concerns, some of those impacting student safety,” she said, without elaborating further.
The seven-member board previously held a contentious meeting on Jan. 10 — the day it was announced Fields would be placed on leave — in which Macias and two other trustees said they were unaware of any allegations levied against Fields, despite Ryan asserting all seven members were sent an email with details on Dec. 18.
Macias, District 1’s Suzanne Kenoyer and District 6’s Laura Stanford argued they never received that email or word of concerns. Macias has since condemned the actions of Ryan and three other board members in the lead-up to Wednesday’s meeting as the “most toxic, reckless” behavior he’s witnessed in his 16 years as a trustee.
Macias told KENS 5 on Tuesday that when he and other trustees were eventually briefed on Jan. 22 about the findings of the investigation, “there was nothing, I feel, that was at the level that required termination.”
Wednesday’s meeting began with about 40 minutes of public comment from parents, teachers and community members in attendance–the majority of whom spoke in support of Fields.
One man identifying himself as a teacher who’s been with Judson ISD for four years said morale was low among staff, while others shared concerns that the district, which is contending with a budget deficit, was putting itself at risk of being taken over by the Texas Education Agency.
“The narrative being circulated recently is not only inconsistent with the man I know, it is at direct contradiction with his leadership,” said Paula Johnson, the executive director of student engagement for JISD.
Macias, Kenoyer and Stanford again criticized the attempt to oust Fields on Wednesday, with Kenoyer claiming there has been a “walking quorum,” which would potentially constitute an Open Meetings Act violation. Macias threatened to send letters to the attorney general, district attorney and Texas Education Agency alleging violations of the act.
“We don’t treat employees like this and operate in secret,” Macias said.
Macias tried a few different logistical maneuvers at the meeting, including briefly delaying it from going into executive session by pushing to reinstate Fields as superintendent. When that failed, he also moved for Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Mary Duhart-Toppen to be acting superintendent; Ryan responded by motioning to hold off on that particular vote until after closed-doors discussions with JISD attorneys.
Ryan’s motion passed, after which the board went into executive session for nearly four hours. Upon reconvening at 10:16 p.m., they voted to propose terminating Fields’ contract while keeping him on paid administrative leave for now.
Ryan, District 5 Trustee Amanda Poteet, District 3 Trustee Lesley Lee and District 2 Trustee Stephanie Jones voted in favor. Macias, Kenoyer and Stanford voted against.
But the board did approve of Macia’s suggestion to install Duhart-Toppen as interim superintendent in a 5-2 vote, with Ryan and Poteet the only “nay” votes.