'Leadership disaster': Humble ISD superintendent placed on leave in wake of mounting legal fees

Humble ISD trustees placed Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen on paid administrative leave Tuesday in a split vote, just a month after details surfaced of a costly Title IX investigation involving her husband, who recently resigned as the district's athletic director. The board voted 4-2 to approve putting Fagen on leave, with trustee Marques Holmes abstaining. Once she left the room, the board voted 6-0 to name Deputy Superintendent Roger Brown as interim superintendent. The board did not discuss the motion to place Fagen on leave or the decision to tap Brown as the interim, but, after the meeting, the board president said Fagen was placed on leave due to "a personnel matter."

Trustee Robert Sitton, who voted against the motion, expressed frustration. "I'm still confused on this one," Sitton said. "I thought we were all on the same page and then we get blindsided with the same exact agenda item this month." Fagen, 50, has been at the helm of the 48,000-student district in northwest Harris County since 2016. She earns $338,756 a year. Previously, Fagen served as superintendent in Arizona’s Tucson Unified School District and Colorado’s Douglas County School District for eight years combined. She recently married former Humble ISD Athletic Director Troy Kite, who retired as the district released findings of a Title IX report that alleged he fostered a “locker room” atmosphere in the district's athletic department. Giana Ortiz, an independent attorney for The Ortiz Law Firm, recommended in her report in February that Humble ISD terminate Kite for creating a hostile work environment and violating Title IX, which protects people from discrimination based on sex in programs that receive federal funding.