Texas school board holds closed meeting on superintendent under investigation

Texas’ Round Rock Independent School District (ISD) school board will meet on Jan. 3, 2022, two days before children return to school next Wednesday, to discuss a state agency’s report on the superintendent, Dr. Hafedh Azaiez, amid scandal.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) had previously confirmed to Fox News that it had been investigating Azaiez amid claims of assault. Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, a spokeswoman for the school district, previously told Fox News that Azaiez does not currently face criminal charges, but the Travis County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed it has an active investigation into Azaiez for alleged assault. Azaiez also faces accusations that he used school board police – both in Round Rock ISD and in his former posting at Donna ISD – to silence his critics.

Parents have expressed skepticism about the meeting and are calling on the school board to publicly release the report.

According to the Jan. 3 meeting’s agenda – which the Board of Trustees released earlier this week – “the Board will review the TEA Monitor’s letter regarding Round Rock Independent School District Superintendent Dr. Hafedh Azaiez.”

The board did not release the TEA letter in question, but the TEA did provide a memorandum to Fox News, which the TEA sent on Dec. 15. In the memorandum, TEA Monitor David Faltys recommends that the school board place Azaiez on leave and hire an external investigator. 

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Faltys recommends that the board place Azaiez “on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation regarding the underlying conduct found in a protective order issued by a Travis County District Court” and “contract the services of an external investigator to conduct an investigation regarding the underlying conduct described above.”