Demands for the firing of Uvalde CISD Police Chief Pete Arredondo and school police officers ring out at Monday night’s special school board meeting
Approximately one month after the last Uvalde CISD School Board meeting where public speakers were limited in number and held to 3 minutes of public comments, the Uvalde CISD School Board met again in a special meeting for extended parent and citizen comments to be heard by Superintendent Hal Harrell and school board members.
Monday night’s special meeting at 5:30 PM preceded the regular school board business meeting which followed immediately after.
Security for the meetings which were held in the John Harrell Auditorium was noticeably enhanced with additional police presence in the lobby of the auditorium where citizens and media members arriving were screened at the door for weapons and were made to sign into the meeting before entering the main auditorium. National and State news outlets including NBC and CBS news reporters and cameras were present in addition to many major market TV news stations.
Superintendent Hal Harrell apologized at the onset of the meeting saying the school board did not respond appropriately to the many parents and teachers who attended the last school board meeting nearly one month ago. This apology did not quell the anger or the fury that was unleashed toward Superintendent Hal Harrell, Uvalde CISD school board members or Uvalde CISD Chief Pete Arredondo and the entire Uvalde CISD police department. Other school officials including Robb Elementary Principal Mandy Gutierrez, Uvalde CISD Communications and Marketing Director Anne Marie Espinoza as well as newly elected school board member JJ Suarez who was not in attendance at last night’s meetings.
The Special Uvalde CISD board meeting allowing for extended comments from the community to the school board went on for hours. Many of those speaking last night did not hold back with words of blistering criticism occasionally spoken by those fighting back tears and holding back rage. At times, those addressing Harrell and the school board members spoke on personal terms against Superintendent Harrell.
Throughout the meeting, numerous calls of “Fire Him! and Fire Them!” referring to Arredondo and the Uvalde CISD police department’s officers.
Even Uvalde City Councilmen Hector Luevano and Chip King went to the microphone to address the Superintendent and the Uvalde CISD School Board members.
A follow-up report with quotes and additional details about the meeting will be published by the Uvalde Hesperian.
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