Luis Gomez, a trustee for Edgewood Independent School District, resigned from his position on the school board on Tuesday.
Gomez cited health concerns in a statement to the board explaining why he’s stepping down.
“I need to take care of medical issues due to my service in the military,” he said. “I want to be perfectly clear that it’s health issues and nothing else.”
A retired city of San Antonio inspector and Edgewood graduate, Gomez was in his second four-year term on the district’s school board. The board positions are elected at-large, and his term would’ve ended next year.
Gomez was elected to Place 3 on the board in 2018 — two years after the state took over Edgewood ISD — and was later reelected in 2022.
“A special thank you to the Edgewood community for allowing me the honor and privilege to serve two consecutive terms,” Gomez said. “I leave knowing the hard work will continue for the betterment of Edgewood ISD.”
Edgewood ISD Board Member Luis Gomez announces his immediate resignation during a board meeting on Nov. 18, 2025. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report
Superintendent Eduardo Hernandez, who joined Edgewood in 2017 and has served with Gomez for years, praised him for being a stable voice who pushed for more unity on the board.
“I appreciate how professional you’ve been in light of the circumstances that have come at you. You’ve been a role model for me as a first-time superintendent,” Hernandez told Gomez. “I understand there are challenges in this work, but our humanity has to come first.”
Gomez also said he wanted to dispel any rumors that might come from his abrupt decision to leave the board, which was first made public when the district posted Tuesday’s board agenda online.
Edgewood’s administration has been the subject of parent complaints and board infighting in recent months as the district tries to deal with several failing campuses, budget constraints and community pressure for more transparency.
Tensions led to the arrest of parent activist Maribel Gardea in August and the later censure of the board’s youngest trustee Micheal Valdez for publicly speaking out against the district.
The board is scheduled to hold a grievance hearing following Gardea’s appeal of the administration’s decision to ban her from district property after her arrest.
After formally accepting Gomez’s resignation, the board voted 6-1 in favor of appointing former board of managers member Richard Santoya as interim trustee. Valdez, the lone “no” vote, suggested the board open an application process to fill the seat. The rest of the board contended that the process could take too long.
Sontoya will serve the rest of Gomez’s term on the Place 3 seat. The seat will be up for reelection in 2026.
This is not the first time Santoya has been appointed to the district’s board. When the state took over Edgewood in 2016, the Texas Education Agency appointed a board of managers, including Santoya, to replace the then-board of trustees.
Santoya also ran unsuccessfully for Place 7 on the district’s board in 2020 and later in 2024.
He’s a retired firefighter and paramedic for the City of San Antonio who graduated from Edgewood and later worked in the district as a teacher.