Latest News On Former HISD Superintendent A Head Scratcher

HOUSTON, TX — The Houston ISD and local lawmakers have publicly stated the largest school district in the state will move forward after the departure of superintendent Richard Carranza. But it's hard to not look back at Carranza's past.

The district announced this week Carranza will leave HISD, which has an enrollment of 215,000 students, to take over as Chancellor of New York City Schools, which has 1.1 million enrollment. That's almost five times as much responsibility and a much higher cost of living, yet Carranza will not have a raise in pay.

And aside from the failing schools and pending $105 million shortfall in the budget he's leaving behind, a report in today's New York Daily News brought light to more of Carranza's past — in his pre-Houston days.

The Daily News reported on a past lawsuit that stated Carranza ruined the career of a promising educator while in the San Francisco school system. The female educator, Veronica Chavez, said that after she called Carranza out for flirting at a conference, victimized her while snubbing other women employees in 2013.

According to Chavez's attorney, Moira McQuaid, Chavez still works as a teacher in San Francisco and was seen as a rising star with rapid growth potential, but it was thrown off track by Carranza's efforts.

"I was surprised to see that Carranza had gone to New York," McQuaid told The Daily News.

The report states Chavez was an assistant superintendent when she and Carranza attended an education conference in Los Angeles during 2013.

The complaint read: "During this weekend, Chavez observed Carranza, who is a married man, engaging in inappropriate flirtatious conduct with a female colleague from another school district who was not his wife."

McQuaid said her client was passed over for promotion on occasion and heavily scrutinized, even threatened to have a "Plan B" if she didn't get a promotion.

Mayor Bill Mayor de Blasio’s office defends their decision to hire Carranza, according to his spokeswoman, Olivia Lapeyrolerie.

"The allegations were completely false and Mr. Carranza was never named in the lawsuit nor was he involved in the settlement," Lapeyrolerie said.

Carranza's abrupt departure is to replace Carmen Fariña, who is retiring. And even this sequence of events is strange. NYC last week offered the position to Miami schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, turning down the offer on live TV.

Houston has 10 underperforming schools threatened by a state takeover, and the district is facing a $115 million shortfall in the budget for the 2018-19 school year.

Carranza has been in HISD only 18 months.

Image: Carranza addresses school safety in a recent press conference with Houston Police. (Photo via Houston ISD)