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Dec 11, 2008 10:20 pm US/Central
DISD Board President: Superintendent's Job Is Safe
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
The saga of the Dallas Independent School District opened another chapter Thursday. This time, the yearly job evaluation for Superintendent Michael Hinojosa is the topic.
Hinojosa met behind closed doors with board members as they underwent the annual evaluation of his job performance. The board met for three hours, but no action was taken.
While there may be some stern criticisms of Hinojosa's performance, DISD Board President Jack Lowe says there will be no changes to his contract, which doesn't expire until 2012.
Lowe went on to say the majority of the board believes the district is working its way through the budget short fall, which was at one point $84.5 million. After budget cuts and teacher layoffs, district officials say the deficit is now down to $30 million.
However, board members Ron Price and Carla Ranger say they have no confidence in the superintendent and Ranger still believes he should be terminated.
Wednesday, Trustee Price held a press conference outlining a list of criticisms of the school district's handling of the budget, teacher layoffs, and student achievement. The words 'no confidence' were used during the press conference.
Hinojosa became superintendent of the DISD in April 2005. Since the unveiling of a record budget deficit and the elimination of hundreds of teacher jobs, some groups have called for his resignation.
Before the meeting, Hinojosa took time Thursday to speak out on some of those issues with CBS 11 News.
"Certainly, people are gonna issue their opinions. I could easily retire, walk away, and make a fine living the rest of my life, but that's not the way I'm made up," the superintendent told CBS 11 News.
Sources say Price is in the minority and before the meeting said there would be no vote on Hinojosa losing his job. Lowe said he has confidence in Hinojosa.
"I want to continue to have him as superintendent," Lowe said. "I'm quite confident that, the majority of the board wants him to continue to be our superintendent."
When Hinojosa talked to CBS 11 News he said he's "here to stay." The school district leader said, "I'm a problem solver. We have a problem and it's our responsibility to find a solution."
The superintendent also answered a direct question regarding his job future.
"I'm not expecting to be fired. I'm confident that I'm gonna keep this job and that we're gonna keep working," Hinojosa said with certainty. "I have a contract through 2010 and we have had some great academic gains and we've had some troubles in the finances. But we've actually developed a plan and we're implementing the plan. And the deficit is now down to less than $30 million and it's gonna continue to go down the rest of the year."
The Dallas school district is the nation's 12th largest, with more than 160,000 students.
Next week Hinojosa will unveil his future plans for the district.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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