FORT DAVIS — Fort Davis ISD Superintendent Graydon Hicks was placed on paid administrative leave by the school board at a special meeting on Sunday. Hicks said he was escorted out of the meeting, along with his wife Tammy, by a Jeff Davis County deputy.
The school board voted unanimously to place Hicks on paid administrative leave effective immediately and moved to appoint Junior High and High School Principal Selena Martin as the acting superintendent “during any time that the superintendent is on leave, or until further modification by the Board,” according to a copy of the motion sent to The Big Bend Sentinel by Board President James Weaver.
The school board declined to give a reason for their decision to place Hicks on administrative leave. “As a district we do not discuss personnel issues with the media or general public as general rule,” Weaver wrote.
It is unclear why the district’s Deputy Superintendent Michelle Hartmann — who has been with the district since January 2024 and helped establish the lucrative early childhood education partnership program — was not tapped for the acting superintendent role.
Hicks told The Sentinel the board gave him no reason for the decision and did not allow him to speak at the school board meeting. “The only thing I can say is, one, I don’t know exactly what’s going on, and two, I can’t say anything other than that,” Hicks said.
Hicks has been the superintendent of Fort Davis ISD for over a decade, since 2014, having previously served as a teacher for the district. In the summer of 2023, he became part time in the role. Hicks said at that time he took a salary cut so that district teachers could have a pay raise. His wife, Tammy, works at the district as a Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) coordinator, and he has a grandchild in middle school.
Sunday’s special board meeting, held at 4 p.m. the eve before the district’s spring break, had only one agenda item: consider and take possible action regarding the superintendent’s roles, responsibilities, evaluation instrument, evaluation, and contract.
The Sentinel was not present at the meeting. School Board members declined to verify Hicks’ account of the events that took place.
Hicks said he told the board that he wanted the discussion about his job to take place in open session, but the board declined and went into executive session, or private assembly where legal counsel may be involved, on the agenda item. The board reconvened an hour and a half later, according to Hicks, and announced he would be placed on paid administrative leave indefinitely.
Hicks told the board he had the right to comment on any agenda item, he said, at which point the board went back into executive session for a time then reconvened publicly to swiftly make the motion to place him on leave and appoint Martin as the acting superintendent. The board then motioned to adjourn.
After a brief back and forth with board members Pene Ferguson and Tommy Everett where Hicks asked if he had the opportunity to speak and whether the issue was up for discussion, to which the board members said no, Hick’s wife Tammy turned to make a comment to Ferguson who then “shoved” the Hicks into Graydon’s adjoining office and attempted to close the door. The couple was then escorted out by the deputy, according to Hicks.
Ferguson declined a request for comment on the situation, and referred all questions to Weaver.