Gonzales resigns from CISD school board Cites family, other reasons
By Richard Zowie Times Guardian Staff Writer
The Comal Independent School District School Board is losing a trailblazer. Dora Gonzales, the first Hispanic ever to serve on the board and only the second female to serve as the board president (Texas state representative Carter Casteel being the first), recently announced her resignation from the CISD school board. Gonzales cited school, work and family reasons for leaving the board. Gonzales was first elected to the board in 1997 and represented single-member District 1. She had served on the board for seven years and had served the first year of her third three-year term. Gonzales also served for a year as board president. She felt that her current and future absences from school board meetings would be unfair to the board, the superintendent, the patrons of her district and the students. Gonzales, who's been married for 22 years and has four children and three grandchildren, said she had been considered resigning for two weeks and that some "very personal family situations" came into play. She currently works as a case manager at McKenna Hospital and might be assuming a role as a caregiver. "It has truly been an honor to serve the patrons of district 1 and I want to thank them for their support and confidence in allowing me to represent them," Gonzales said in a statement. "It's been a very challenging time but also very rewarding. I have so much confidence in [CISD superintendent] Nancy Fuller and feel confident that if I need to leave, this is a good time." Fuller said Gonzales' leadership would be missed by the district. "We are losing an exceptionally strong leader and advocate for children," she said. "She has skillfully guided this school board and district through some difficult decisions this past year but we respect her wishes to concentrate on school, work, and family." The Canyon High School alumnus and third-generation New Braunfels native is in the graduate program for health care administration certification at her alma mater, Texas State-San Marcos. Gonzales' resignation will need to be officially accepted at a future CISD school board meeting. After that, the board can work toward getting a replacement for her. They can either fill the vacancy through an appointment until the next election or order a special election to fill it. Her current term was to expire in May 2006. | ||||||||||||||||
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