Judson ISD chief ’s hasty resignation raises questions
$140K contract buyout comes amid ‘personnel’ problems
Capping days of secret talks, the Judson Independent School District board voted to give Superintendent Jeanette Ball a $140,000 payment, more than half of her annual salary, to buy out a contract that doesn’t expire until 2025.
The move came late Monday after the board failed to approve her annual evaluation last week despite two lengthy discussions. It also came weeks after the district secured voter approval of a $345 million bond proposal that Ball had worked to pass.
Ball could not be reached for comment.
Rafa Diaz, the board’s vice president, interviewed before Monday’s meeting, said it was to discuss Ball’s resignation “and other personnel matters having to do with the superintendent.”
“Beyond that, I can’t discuss anything right now because of the sensitivity of the matter. It’s a personnel matter,” he said.
The district did not respond when asked if Ball was the subject of any employee grievances. District spokeswoman Nicole Taguinod said by email that the board had approved a “resignation agreement” but said she couldn’t comment further until it was finalized.
The board had taken no action after conducting Ball’s annual evaluation Wednesday, then took up the same discussion in an executive session at Thursday’s regular monthly meeting. It
again took no action on an agenda item “regarding approving the Superintendent’s evaluation and contract.”
Ball is a former superintendent at Uvalde Consolidated ISD, where she was employed for five years. She became Judson’s superintendent in the summer of 2018. The district’s enrollment is listed on its website as 24,531 students and it received a “B” grade in the Texas Education Agency’s ratings released in August.
The Judson board last year extended Ball’s contract to January of 2025. Her base salary is $250,000.
After losing a bond election in November 2021, the district retooled its proposal into a pair of ballot propositions totaling $345 million, with a heavy emphasis on school security. Ball was a passionate advocate for their passage and both succeeded with 58 and 59 percent of the vote on Nov. 8.
Ball and trustees had praised each other in May after the board voted to draw $22 million from the district’s robust reserve fund to provide a 6 percent pay raise for teachers and most employees, including police and bus drivers, to try to stay competitive amid a worsening shortage of those workers. Professional staff got a 4 percent raise.
Commenters on social media said some trustees have worked against the superintendent. Other commenters, including current and former teachers in the district, lodged complaints about Ball’s behavior towards staff.
Most of the hundred or so comments on the Judson ISD Parents, Students and Staff Facebook page expressed sadness at the possibility of Ball’s departure.
Bill Atkins, the assistant superintendent of finance and operations, took to Ball’s defense as the sole public commenter at the start of Monday’s special meeting, saying her heart for staff and students was “her strength, and also her downfall.”