Stroud announced her intention to resign in an Aug. 25 letter to the board, stating she needed to step down from the time-consuming role to fulfill personal obligations, including visiting her family. She will continue to serve as a trustee.
The board voted to elect Vice President Mary Jane Hetrick to the president role at the Aug. 30 meeting.
In recent weeks, Stroud led meetings with hours of heated public comment on masking and other COVID-19 policies.
Stroud filled the role in November 2020 after the pandemic delayed the board’s election so she could lead the search for the new superintendent, Holly Morris-Kuentz, according to her letter.
Stroud, a 1989 graduate from the University of Texas School of Law, spent much of her career as a trial attorney in Houston and Austin where she focused on personal injury litigation and medical malpractice, according to Stroud’s website.
The new president holds a doctorate in public administration from Auburn University. In her career, Hetrick was the women’s sports information director for the University of Texas-Pan American, scholarship coordinator for the University of Texas at Brownsville, and an adjunct professor for Austin University at Montgomery and Troy University in San Antonio, according to her bio from the school district. Hetrick started a nonprofit consulting business called Foundation Logic in 2014.
The board elected Joanna Day as vice president.
