Uvalde elementary principal no longer on administrative leave, lawyer says

Sign up for The Brief, our each day e-newsletter that retains readers in control on probably the most important Texas news.

Three days after the Uvalde superintendent positioned the principal of Robb Elementary School on paid administrative depart, Mandy Gutierrez is again in her management place, based on her lawyer. The reinstatement comes someday after Gutierrez rebuffed findings in a Texas House committee’s investigative report about safety at her faculty.

According to a letter from Superintendent Hal Harrell that Gutierrez’s legal professional launched Thursday, she resumed her duties as principal after her submission of extra information to the investigative committee.

Gutierrez was placed on leave Monday, greater than two months after a capturing at Robb left 19 college students and two lecturers lifeless. It was the worst faculty capturing in Texas historical past.

The letter to Gutierrez from Harrell prompt that her depart was associated 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 an announcement responding to the reinstatement, Ricardo Cedillo, Gutierrez’s lawyer, mentioned, “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 a number of systemic failures in regulation enforcement’s response to the capturing. The committee additionally alleged that points at Robb Elementary, together with a tradition of complacency with safety measures, allowed the shooter to enter the varsity unobstructed.

In Gutierrez’s letter to the House committee, she rejected assertions that she created an setting of complacency relating to faculty security. She mentioned that by not asserting a lockdown alert over the intercom system she had adopted her coaching, and that the door by way of which the shooter is believed to have entered the classroom had a functioning lock, two areas of investigation by the House committee.

Neither Harrell nor UCISD spokesperson Anne Marie Espinoza responded to a request for remark Thursday.

Uriel J. García contributed to this story.

When you be part of us at The Texas Tribune Festival Sept. 22-24 in downtown Austin, you’ll hear from changemakers who’re driving innovation, lawmakers who’re taking cost with new insurance policies, trade leaders who’re pushing Texas ahead and so many others. See the rising speaker record and buy tickets.