SAN ANTONIO — About a week after she was reinstated from administrative leave by district officials, Robb Elementary School Principal Mandy Gutierrez will now start preparing for a new role.
The district on Friday announced Gutierrez will shift to the position of assistant director of special education for Uvalde CISD. The district website indicates she was previously set to serve as principal of Uvalde Elementary at the Benson educational complex, one of the learning centers which will take on former Robb students when the new school year begins Sept. 6.
Uvalde CISD officials said the reassignment fulfills her "desire to support special education students across the district."
Gutierrez's lone year at the helm at Robb was punctuated in tragedy when an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in the last week of school. One of numerous people interviewed by the Texas House investigative committee created in the wake of the shooting, Gutierrez was suddenly placed on paid administrative leave by Superintendent Hal Harrell on July 25, during which time she wrote to committee members seeking to clarify her role in the emergency response on May 24.
"It is unfair and inaccurate to conclude that I ever (became) complacent on any security issue at Robb Elementary," she wrote in part, specifically clarifying why she didn't use the intercom system to warn the school population and contending she received no report that the door to Classroom 111 was faulty.
Gutierrez was eventually reinstated after three days of leave.
Christy Perez, a former assistant principal at Uvalde High School with a background in counseling, will take over the reins as principal at Uvalde Elementary, the district says.
Other administrative additions
Uvalde CISD on Friday also said it has created and filled two new roles "to oversee our recovery and infrastructure enhancement efforts."
Nichole Henderson, a former counselor who has been with the district for seven years, will work as the director of recovery to oversee support services across campuses, including the "implementation of enhanced training in trauma-informed care and recovery."
Meanwhile, district newcomer Esequiel De La Fuente will serve as director of special projects within the maintenance department, and oversee "safety and security infrastructure enhancements across the district."
