By Joshua Benton
Staff Writer
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The great Wilmer-Hutchins agenda debate continues.
Last week, both the district’s school board and its state overseers produced agendas for Monday night’s meeting. The documents differed in some fairly substantial ways – for instance, about who would be the district’s superintendent and who would serve on its school board.
On Monday afternoon, board President Luther Edwards threw up his hands and canceled the meeting. But state-appointed monitors held a meeting Monday night and rehired James Damm, the interim superintendent who was fired by the board last month.
The agenda debate stemmed from very real confusion over who is in charge of troubled Wilmer-Hutchins, which has been in a state of financial collapse since summer. In November, the Texas Education Agency appointed two overseers who have broad legal control over the school board’s actions. But a restraining order issued March 25 temporarily removed their power.
That order was reversed by an appeals court Friday, but another appeal of that decision was filed Monday.
Ironically, TEA officials had said earlier Monday that they expected the meeting to go forward with Mr. Edwards’ preferred agenda.