Mercedes school board moves to fire high school principal

MERCEDES — School board members voted late Thursday to start a process to fire Mercedes High School Principal Ricardo Atkinson, who has been on paid suspension for more than two months.

Behind closed doors, board members met with Roger Hepworth, the Austin lawyer hired to investigate accusations against Atkinson.

After the meeting, interim Superintendent Walter Watson declined to disclose the factors behind the board’s action.

Board members voted to hire Kevin O’Hanlon, the Texas Education Agency’s former chief attorney, to handle any litigation that could result from the board’s action.

“This could possibly wind up in some really interesting litigation,” board member Monte Churchill told board members. “That Mr. O’Hanlon was the (chief attorney) of the Texas Education Agency would certainly guide the district if there’s any litigation.”

The school’s investigation focused on accusations of misconduct that involved students, Watson said in an earlier interview. At least one of the allegations involves the number of student suspensions that Atkinson approved in the fall semester, Watson said.

Atkinson was suspended Oct. 1 after a Sept. 28 incident that involved a student at pep rally, Watson said in an earlier interview.

Atkinson has denied accusations of wrongdoing against students, saying he stands behind the approximately 100 suspensions he approved this year.

A resident of Brownsville, Atkinson had worked as a Dallas school principal before the Mercedes school district hired him in May 2005.