Uvalde Elementary Principal Reinstated After School Shooting Investigation
Three days after the Uvalde superintendent placed the principal of Robb Elementary School on paid administrative leave, Mandy Gutierrez is back in her leadership position, according to her lawyer. The reinstatement came one day after Gutierrez rebuffed findings in a Texas House committee’s investigative report about security at her school.
According to a letter from Superintendent Hal Harrell that Gutierrez’s attorney released July 28, she resumed her duties as principal after her submission of additional information to the investigative committee.
Gutierrez was placed on leave July 25, more than two months after a shooting at Robb left 19 students and two teachers dead. It was the worst school shooting in Texas history.
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The letter to Gutierrez from Harrell suggested that her leave was related to the House committee’s investigation.
“Thank you for responding to our request for information by submitting your response to the House Investigative Report. As a result of our review, you will be allowed to return to work,” Harrell wrote.
In a statement responding to the reinstatement, Ricardo Cedillo, Gutierrez’s lawyer, said, “she has been fully reinstated to her position, where she will continue to discharge her duties and continue to serve all the families of the [Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District].”
The House committee’s report pointed to several systemic failures in law enforcement’s response to the shooting. The committee also alleged that issues at Robb Elementary, including a culture of complacency with security measures, allowed the shooter to enter the school unobstructed.
In Gutierrez’s letter to the House committee, she rejected assertions that she created an environment of complacency regarding school safety. She said that by not announcing a lockdown alert over the intercom system she had followed her training, and that the door through which the shooter is believed to have entered the classroom had a functioning lock, two areas of investigation by the House committee.
Harrell did not respond to a request for comment. Anne Marie Espinoza, a spokesperson for the district, said the “Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District follows a practice of not addressing personnel matters.”
Uriel J. García contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune, a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
