4 grievances filed against Uvalde school superintendent in aftermath of Robb Elementary shooting

The Uvalde school board met Monday night to discuss four grievances filed against Superintendent Hal Harrell, at least one of which related to the May 24 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. About 50 people showed up at 6 p.m., many of them dripping wet from the thunderstorm blanketing the area. During public comments, five people called on the board to be more transparent and to hold the superintendent accountable. A gunman massacred 19 students and two teachers in the attack three months ago. “We need to remember this is not personal or a vendetta or a attack against Dr. Harrell,” said Diana Olvedo-Karau, a former employee of the school district’s transportation department. “We need to — you need to — be able to separate the personal from the professional.”

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District board members went into closed session, filing out of the Benson board room. They then called each of the four individuals who filed grievances to an adjoining room to privately speak with them and the superintendent individually. Adam Martinez, a parent of two students in the district, filed one of the grievances. “May 24th there were many systematic failures that made the massacre more convenient for the killer,” Martinez wrote in the complaint, in which he sought Harrell’s termination. “My son and daughter are afraid to go back to school because they do not feel safe.” In closed session, Martinez gave Harrell a list of all his concerns, which stemmed from the July 17 report issued by a Texas House committee investigating the school shooting and the police response to it.