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Sweeping changes for UCISD

Melissa Federspill
Staff Writer

• Senior administrators, including Harrell, plan retirement 

• District sidelines, reassigns police officers and places interim chief of police on paid leave

• Brett Cross heads home after nearly two-week stay outside central office building to demand accountability

• Mueller resigns after administrative leave decision, while Harrell’s retirement set for discussion at upcoming school board meeting

Hal Harrell

Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District announced a sweeping reorganization of district leadership on Friday, including the forthcoming retirement of Superintendent Hal Harrell, immediate retirement of student services director Ken Mueller, and administrative leave of interim-police chief Lt. Mike Hernandez. 

The district also ceased all activities of its police force, and reassigned the officers to new roles within the district.

The suspension of the police force comes nearly 20 weeks after the fatal mass shooting at Robb Elementary School and more than a week after victims’ families began a round-the-clock vigil demanding that school district police officers be relieved of their duties while the investigation into the May 24 tragedy is ongoing. 

Brett Cross, guardian of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, started his protest at central office on Tuesday, Sept. 26, sleeping outdoors and waking up every day since on its doorstep. Many other parents and supporters have spent hours at his side.

Mueller was placed on administrative leave but opted to retire, per district officials. Harrell, in a letter to district staff, said the retirement discussions are in the beginning stages, and there are “no defined timelines set at this point.”

 The announcements came on the heels of firing school police officer Crimson Elizondo, who the district recently hired despite knowledge of a pending investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety. 

CNN reported that Elizondo, then employed by DPS as a trooper, was on scene at Robb Elementary about two minutes after 18-year-old Uvalde High School dropout Salvador Ramos, armed with an AR-15-style rifle, walked into the school building and opened fire, killing 19 fourth-graders and two teachers.

The news about Elizondo outraged many families, and spurred an even larger demonstration at UCISD central office.

“The district will continue to engage with the Texas Police Chiefs Association who is conducting a management and organizational review. The results of this review will guide the rebuilding of the department and hiring of a new chief of police. We expect a report later this month,” reads the press release.

“The district has requested the Texas Department of Public Safety to provide additional troopers for the campus and extra-curricular activities. We are confident that staff and student safety will not be compromised during this transaction.”

Mueller joined the district in the summer of 2018, returning to UCISD after a seven-year hiatus, during which he served as principal of the Utopia Independent School District. 

When he resigned from UCISD in 2011, he was principal of then-Uvalde Junior High School, a position he accepted in 2006. Before that, he had served as principal of the former Excel Academy, since 2001. Other previous experience includes roles as an administrator, teacher and coach.

Hernandez joined the UCISD PD on July 2, 2018, after time as a special investigator for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. He also had a 21-year career with the Uvalde Police Department and spent seven years at the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office.

Harrell began his 31 year educational career with UCISD in 1991 when he was employed as a special education vocational adjustment coordinator instructor at Uvalde High School. 

Three years later he was made principal at the district alternative school, New Hope, where he served for four years. He then moved to Uvalde High as an assistant principal, a position he held for two years. Over Labor Day weekend in 2001, the UHS principal, Dana D. Delgado, resigned and Harrell assumed the position of principal. 

After six years as Uvalde High principal, Harrell moved to Central Office as director of student services. 

Born and raised in Uvalde, Harrell is a lifetime resident except for his college days in Austin.