In a jaw-dropping turn of events at 10 p.m. Monday, the Temple school board accepted the resignation of Superintendent Beto Gonzalez.

Gonzalez has accepted a job as deputy superintendent of the Browns-ville school district. Brownsville has more than 48,000 students with 7,300 staff at 51 campuses.

In his formal letter of resignation, Gonzalez said “it is my hope that all elements of this community will embrace the necessity of moving forward to tap the virtue and potential of this wonderful district.”

“There is an opportunity that has been presented to myself and my family that I cannot ignore,” he said. “I will continue to trumpet the needs of this district.”

Gonzalez said that it was “definitely with a saddened heart” that he would be leaving the district after a little more than a year here, especially with all the progress made with the Temple High School academies and the passage of a $19.9 million bond election.

When asked if recent controversy surrounding personnel decisions had anything to do with his departure, he said it was completely unrelated.

Gonzalez was the third permanent Temple school superintendent in the last four years.

School board president Steve Wright described the resignation as “very sudden” but said he appreciated Gonzalez’s commitment to excellence during his tenure in Temple.

“We are proud of the decision to bring Beto Gonzalez here and the programs developed under his leadership, including the high school academies,” Wright said. “We feel we are losing a very valuable asset to the district and the community.”

He said the plans and procedures Gonzalez helped put in place would remain after he leaves. He said the board would hold a special meeting to name an interim superintendent at a later date.

Before the resignation, the board heard a report on the status of the majority vote requirement for board elections and did not call for any action to change it.

School board attorney John Gauntt said the original purpose of the requirement was to prevent minorities from being voted out through the abuse of the system.

Board member Virginia Suarez said going to a plurality voting system requires that the minority groups be able to trust the community and the system, and said that while Temple has come a long way it is still not ready.

The board also heard an impassioned plea by basketball coach Bruce Etheridge, who demanded that the African-American community not be ignored in considering personnel and district decisions.