Special board meeting to consider firing Pete Arredondo is canceled

A special school board meeting that was scheduled for Saturday morning to terminate Pete Arredondo, Uvalde schools police chief, has been canceled.

The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District made the announcement on Friday.

“In conformity with due process requirements, and at the request of his attorney, the meeting to consider the termination of Chief Arredondo will be held at a later date which has yet to be determined,” the statement from UISD said.

Until then, Arredondo “shall be on unpaid administrative leave,” the statement said.

Arredondo, 50, has come under fire from community members and state officials for his conduct during the Robb Elementary mass shooting on May 24, where 19 children and two teachers were killed in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. Arredondo has said he did not consider himself in charge during the massacre. 

Arredondo’s firing was recommended by Superintendent Hal Harrell. 

Last week, a scathing report by a Texas House investigative committee found “systemic failures and egregiously poor decision making” surrounding the shooting.

After the report was made public, family members of the dead and members of the community lashed out during a Uvalde school board during a meeting last Monday, shouting, “Shame on you! Shame on you!” 

Brett Cross, an uncle of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, who was among those slain, berated board members at length for not holding themselves accountable for the massacre. He particularly challenged members for not knowing school exit doors were locked to the outside and for not firing Arredondo.

“If he’s not fired by noon tomorrow, I want your resignation and every single one of these board members because you don’t give a damn about us or our children,” Cross said, addressing Harrell.