Katy ISD reinstates suspended principal
A Katy Independent School District principal who was abruptly put on paid administrative leave this month has been reinstated, according to school officials.
Parents learned recently that Principal Imelda Medrano of Seven Lakes Junior High had been placed on administrative leave, but school officials declined to discuss reasons behind the suspension.
Parents surmised the cause was an article posted on a Christian parenting website the principal had linked to in a weekly enewsletter sent out by the school. The article was about the potential dangers to children from phone apps like Snapchat and Vine.
The district emailed parents Jan. 12 to disregard the article, referring them instead to the Katy ISD technology department’s page on cyberbullying.
Just days later, the Katy ISD police tweeted a link to the same article Medrano had shared with parents, touting it as “Great info for parents regarding Apps kids are using on their phones.”
Parents reacted to the decision to place Me drano on leave by starting a Facebook petition calling for her reinstatement and demanding answers from the school district.
On Friday, Katy ISD superintendent Alton Frailey emailed parents to inform them that Medrano would be back at her post.
“Following an administrative review, I am pleased to share that effective Thursday afternoon, January 22, 2015, Dr. Medrano was reinstated as principal at SLJH,” Frailey wrote in the email, explaining that she would be back in school Tuesday.
“I appointed Dr. Medrano to open SLJH in 2012 and since then, she has demonstrated successful leadership capacity at the school,” he wrote. “She has my full support and confidence as she continues as principal at SLJH.”
School officials could not immediately be reached Saturday to comment further on Medrano’s reinstatement. st.john.smith@chron.com twitter.com/stjbs