SCHERTZ, Texas – In the wake of his employment dispute with Judson ISD, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD’s Board of Trustees voted on Tuesday to restrict Trustee Matthew Short from using district funds or facilities, with the exception of scheduled board meetings, according to video of the district board meeting posted online.
Video of the Feb. 19 meeting shows Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD Board President Letticia Sever explaining she and another board member met with Short earlier this month.
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Sever said she asked Short to resign as a result of “the negative attention swirling around his employment dispute with Judson ISD and the challenges his dispute was creating for our board and district.”
Later that week, Sever said Short emailed to say he “intended to continue serving and would not be stepping down.”
The district “had calls and letters from the community to remove Mr. Short from the board,” Sever said during the meeting. “However, Texas law does not allow for sitting board members to remove another trustee.”
Six Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD trustees voted on the motion to restrict Short’s access to district property and funds. Short was the only trustee who voted no.
KSAT reached Short on the phone Friday afternoon, but he declined to comment on the recent vote.
Last month, KSAT Investigates reported that Judson ISD police investigated Short. Records show he was accused of abandoning several children on Nov. 17 at Salinas Elementary, where he taught. The district confirmed it placed Short on leave on Nov. 19, barring him from all Judson ISD classrooms.
KSAT reached out to Judson ISD’s district spokesperson and the district police chief on Friday to ask if the police department had cleared Short in their investigation. KSAT did not immediately hear back.
A district spokesperson told KSAT earlier this month that the situation is an ongoing legal matter, adding the district could not provide additional details.
Judson ISD trustees voted to propose termination of Short’s contract during a Jan. 22 meeting, the district said.
Short told KSAT earlier this month the allegations in the police report were untrue and that they were not the reason the Judson ISD board took action to propose his termination in January.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.