EDCOUCH-ELSA -- In a 4 to 1 vote, Edcouch - Elsa School Board Members voted to relieve Superintendent Michael Sandroussi of his duties.
Action 4 News was the only media outlet at the meeting where residents and former teachers waited through hours of agenda items before board members took the issue into executive session.
Sandroussi was suspended last week and tonight learned his fate, or at least the public learned his fate since he did not attend the meeting.
Local businessman Rene Salinas has grandchildren in the school district and believes Sandroussi's firing is a positive move, "I think it's a necessary action, Superintendent Sandroussi was here for 5 or 6 years and during that time everything went wrong financially. The school district is in a hole."
In fact, the district had a 7 million dollar surplus when Sandroussi started there and now the district is 10 million in the red, but Salinas says he doesn't place all the blame on Sandroussi and feels it's a good place to start.
Because of the shortfall, the district recently made hundreds of job cuts spurring outrage throughout the community.
It will be a very difficult position to fill considering the district will have to pull themselves out of a very deep hole.
The issue to name an interim superintendent was tabled until the next meeting.
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