GISD board votes not to terminate director of secondary education

By a split 4-3 vote, the Gonzales ISD School Board of Trustees voted Monday, Sept. 9, not to terminate the employment contract of director of secondary education Wanda Fryer, who currently faces a misdemeanor charge in Gonzales County Court.

Board members met during an executive session at the GISD Administration Building to discuss Fryer’s contract status, but would not discuss during open session what actions brought the longtime employee’s employment under scrutiny. When the board returned from closed session, a motion was made to propose the mid-contract termination of Fryer's contract.

In a roll call vote, the motion failed by a 4-3 margin as Board President Ross Hendershot III, Board Vice President Justin Schwausch and board member Naomi Brown voted to end Fryer’s employment, while Secretary Josie Smith-Wright and board members Ashley Molina, D’Anna Robinson and Gloria Torres voted against the motion.

The Inquirer attempted to ascertain from district administration why Fryer’s contract was under consideration for termination before it had passed its midpoint, but the district has remained mostly silent about the case.

“Due to laws protecting employee privacy rights, Gonzales ISD is limited in the information we can disclose; however, we can confirm that the District quickly responded by launching an investigation and fully cooperated with the Texas OAG (the office of the Attorney General) regarding case CX0198629140,” said GISD chief of administration, communications, and safety Veronica Johannsen in a statement to the Inquirer.

A report by KSAT 12 states Fryer was being investigated for using district resources to print flyers for a school board candidate, though they did not indicate which candidate she had supported or how they had fared. The most recent school board races held in 2024 involved Smith-Wright, who won election against David Schautteet Jr., and incumbent Sandra Gorden, who lost to Brown. No current board members excused themselves Monday from voting on Fryer’s contract due to conflict of interest.

The case was reportedly referred by the Gonzales Police Department to the Texas Office of the Attorney General in April 2024, according to documents KSAT requested from the OAG.

A review by the Inquirer of the September 2024 docket call for the Gonzales County Court, shows a pending case, GC-33458, against Wanda Denise Fryer for a charge of unlawful use of public funds for political advertising.

The charge is a Class A misdemeanor under Sec. 255.003 of the Texas Election Code, which states “an officer or employee of a political subdivision may not knowingly spend or authorize the spending of public funds for political advertising.”

She is scheduled to appear in court before County Judge Pat Davis at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 16. Listed on the docket as Fryer’s attorney of record is Eduardo “Eddie” Escobar, who is running unopposed in November to be the next Gonzales County Attorney. The case is filed with the County Attorney’s office because it is a misdemeanor.

The Inquirer reached out to Escobar regarding the charge against Fryer or her employment, but he declined to comment.

Fryer has served the school district for than 20 years in various roles, including assistant principal and principal at North Avenue, principal at both the Gonzales Junior High School and Gonzales High School campuses and the district’s director of student and community services before assuming the position of director of secondary education in July 2022. Fryer was expected to be reinstated to her position on Wednesday, Sept. 11.

In other action Monday night, the board approved the following agenda items:

– approved the members of the 2024-2025 School Health Advisory Council (SHAC).

– approved to change the October 2024 regular scheduled board meeting to Oct. 21.

--approved changes to Transportation Substitute and Extra Duty Pay Rate(s) for the 2024-25 school year.