Yvonne Gonzalez is a former school superintendent, serving in that capacity in the

Dallas Independent School District The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas (USA). It operates schools in much of Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and the seventeenth-largest in the U ...

(DISD) in 1997 as well as in

Santa Fe Public Schools Santa Fe Public Schools (SFPS) is a school district based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe Public Schools serves the city of Santa Fe, the communities of Tesuque and Eldorado, and the historic neighborhood of Agua Fria, and other communities ...

from 1994 to 1996. She also served as interim superintendent of the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

(HISD) in 1994. Her career in education ended after a conviction in federal court for embezzling money from DISD.

Early life and career

Gonzalez was born in

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

, but she grew up in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the flag of t ...

. She received her undergraduate degree from St. Mary's University. She initially became a secondary level teacher in the

San Antonio Independent School District San Antonio Independent School District is a school district based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. San Antonio ISD ranks is the 13th largest of Texas' 1,057 school districts. The District encompasses 79 square miles with a total population ...

(SAISD). She first worked as a principal in San Antonio before working as an instructor at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

. During her career she got master's and doctoral degrees at

Stephen F. Austin University } Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas. It was founded as a teachers' college in 1923 and subsequennly renamed after one of Texas's founding fathers, Stephen F. Austin. Its campus resides on part ...

and

, with the latter conferred in 1987.

(HISD) superintendent Joan Raymond recruited her as a school administrator. In Spring 1990 she was the principal of

Sharpstown Sharpstown is a master-planned community in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greater Sharpstown), Southwest Houston, Texas.Robert E. Lee High School, now known as

Wisdom High School Margaret Long Wisdom High School, formerly Robert E. Lee High School, is a publicly funded secondary school located in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States 77057. The Houston Independent School District, the 7th largest school district in the ...

. In 1994, after superintendent

Frank Petruzielo Frank Petruzielo is a former school superintendent. Petruzielo previously worked for the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. He became the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in 1991. Former HISD board member Don McAdams ...

left the district, the school district voted 6-1 to make Gonzalez the interim superintendent;Markley, Melanie.
Hispanic named interim HISD superintendent
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

''. Tuesday February 1, 1994. A17. Retrieved on November 12, 2011. the school district board members described this as a "symbolic" motion as Gonzalez was the first Hispanic interim superintendent.Markley, Melanie.
HISD interim leader a "symbolic' gesture
" ''

''. Tuesday February 1, 1994. A19. Retrieved on November 11, 2011. Gonzalez served until

Rod Paige Roderick Raynor Paige (born June 17, 1933) served as the 7th United States Secretary of Education from 2001 to 2005. Paige, who grew up in Mississippi, moved from college football coach and classroom teacher to college dean and school superinten ...

became the superintendent. She became superintendent of the

in 1994. A lawyer named Michael Gross stated that the Santa Fe Public Schools community saw her tenure there negatively. She married twice, with Chris Lyle being her second husband. Lyle was unable to obtain employment in Santa Fe.

Dallas Independent School District

She became a deputy superintendent in Dallas ISD on April 1, 1996. On her request, DISD hired Lyle in the security department. On January 9, 1997, - Has detailed dates of superintendents from Chad Wollery to Mike Miles, but does not include people who only served as interim superintendents. she became the first DISD superintendent of Hispanic or Latino heritage and the first woman in the same position. Eduardo Paz of ''

D Magazine ''D Magazine'' is a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth. It is headquartered in Downtown Dallas. ''D Magazine'' covers a range of topics including politics, business, food, fashion and lifestyle in the city of Dallas. The first iss ...

'' stated that Hispanic and Latino DISD residents, who wanted more political representation in the district, praised her appointment to the position. According to Skip Hollandsworth of ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

'', there was racial animosity on the board, so she was chosen as white and Hispanic trustees could use her to apease Hispanics and to politically oppose black trustees, the latter of whom boycotted the vote that selected her. She was tall and was, as described by Scott Parks of ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'', a "bundle of energy", so she had the nickname "Tiny Tornado". She launched a corruption probe which targeted school staff and accused critics of using the "

race card Playing the race card is an idiomatic phrase that refers to the exploitation by someone of either racist or anti-racist attitudes in the audience in order to gain an advantage. It constitutes an accusation of bad faith directed at the person or ...

" when they accused her of focusing too much on African-Americans. During her tenure Matthew Harden, the district's chief financial officer, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her, and the conflict became racially partisan, with black people supporting Harden and others supporting Gonzalez. Her tenure as superintendent ended on September 17, 1997; she had resigned the previous day.

Criminal charges, conviction, penalty, and post-career

She improperly used money from DISD to acquire furniture for herself, spending $16,000 of it and putting the goods in her house and her office. She was convicted in a federal court, and lost her educational credentials. She was under correctional supervision for one year and three months, from about January 1998 to April 1999; the initial months were served in federal prison and the final three were in a

halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. After her prison term she worked at Dixie Flag Manufacturing Co.; in 2006 she no longer was employed there. A 2012 ''The Dallas Morning News'' article stated that the last place of employment of Gonzalez that the publication was aware of was a nonprofit immigration reform organization based in

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

, and an employee indicated she resided in Mississippi.

Early life and career

Dallas Independent School District

Criminal charges, conviction, penalty, and post-career

References

Further reading