As parents prepare to send their children back to school, the “safe and suburban” Round Rock Independent School District is rocked by yet another scandal.
For over a year, Round Rock ISD has been the center of controversy, from a superintendent’s personal and professional misconduct to a school board majority intent on protecting him over their students.
Background
Last year, five school board members—Amy Weir, Jun Xiao, Amber Feller, Cory Vessa, and Tiffanie Harrison—rushed into hiring Superintendent Hafedh Azaiez despite objections from fellow trustees (Dr. Mary Bone and Danielle Weston) and citizens.
These five school board members, whom citizens dubbed the “Bad Faith Five,” have protected Azaiez throughout allegations of domestic abuse and criminal investigations into his behavior, which remained ongoing at the time despite some trustees’ claims.
Texas Scorecard documented these events in a special report and in Exposed, an exclusive podcast series.
The Latest
In response to an open records request by Texas Scorecard asking for communications between Azaiez and the Texas Education Agency (TEA), as well as the TEA and RRISD officials regarding Azaiez, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Office confirmed that there is a pending special investigation by TEA into Round Rock ISD itself.
This is in addition to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office investigation of Superintendent Azaiez.
Round Rock parents gathered at the TEA headquarters in June, petitioning the TEA to remove Azaizez and enact penalties on the Round Rock ISD Board of Trustees for an “illegal $10 million tax hike, arrests of concerned parents and taxpayers, and the reinstatement of a superintendent accused of sexual impropriety and oppression of board trustees who oppose him.”
Apparently, TEA has already been conducting an investigation into Round Rock ISD, although the results of the investigation are unknown.
Texas Scorecard asked the TEA if the investigation remains ongoing, but we did not receive a response prior to publication. RRISD also refused to comment on the status of the investigation into the district.
However, the Travis County Sheriff’s Office updated Texas Scorecard on the status of the Azaiez investigation, which is “suspended” until “additional evidence is received by this agency, [then] the investigation will once again become active.”
