GRAPEVINE, Texas — The Grapevine-Colleyville ISD school board has named a current district leader as the new interim superintendent.
Current deputy superintendent Dr. Brad Schnautz was picked to lead GCISD in the interim role of superintendent following the announcement of Dr. Robin Ryan's retirement last month.
Schnautz was unanimously approved by the school board during a meeting on Monday.
"It's a time for us to serve, it's a time for us to support. More importantly, I want to provide stability," Schnautz said at the meeting.
On Sept. 23, Ryan announced he was retiring after 38 years in the Texas public education system. He served as GCISD's superintendent for 13 years.
The district said Ryan's last day will be Jan. 1, 2023, but he will remain an employee until Aug. 31, 2023.
Schnautz will be leading a district that has faced criticism from parents and students in recent months.
In August, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD faced both backlash and praise after its board banned the teaching of critical race theory, implementing a strict review of library books and not requiring or encouraging the use of pronouns that are not aligned with the gender assigned at birth.
Following the school board’s vote, Grapevine High School students held a protest. One student said, “These rules are taking away our rights to feel safe and to express ourselves and to be honest about who we are.”
The school district also cut ties with the Scholastic Book Fair because the company didn’t provide a full list of every book it would sell at the fair.