Ojeda Middle School teacher urges consistent leadership; board tables hiring of Ojeda assistant principal

Cristina Rocha, a seventh-grade ELAR teacher at Ojeda Middle School, urged the Del Valle ISD Board of Trustees to provide consistent administrative support for the campus, saying frequent principal and assistant-principal turnover last year strained staff and student services.

Rocha told the board Ojeda saw "three different principals or principal roles" during the past school year and said the campus achieved its best results when each grade level had a certified assistant principal who could cover ARDs, LPACs and other meetings. ‘‘Ojeda is not broken,’’ she said, and asked for ‘‘consistent support’’ and leadership to rebuild the campus’ prior strengths.

Rocha also raised safety concerns and asked that any assistant principal approved by the board possess both a firm approach and a supportive, student-centered perspective.

Later in the meeting, during closed session, the board discussed multiple personnel recommendations and publicly reported several actions afterward. The board approved hires for other campus leadership positions but tabled the superintendent’s recommendation regarding the possible hiring of an Ojeda assistant principal. The meeting record shows the Ojeda assistant principal item was explicitly tabled; no final hire for that position was reported.

Trustees and administration did not provide a public reason for tabling the Ojeda assistant principal item in the open minutes beyond the closed-session action noted on the agenda.