HAYWARD — The Hayward school board has placed its superintendent on paid administrative leave while it investigates his possible role in former San Francisco 49ers player and accused rapist Ray McDonald’s visit to Tennyson High School in February.

Assistant Superintendent Matt Wayne will serve as Hayward Unified School District’s acting superintendent for an undetermined amount of time while the investigation takes place.

“I will always continue to put the Made In Hayward children first no matter what non-actions are taken against me in public,” Superintendent Stan Dobbs said Thursday. “I will just continue to pray for the board members and their decisions — that is the best I can do.”

The abrupt decision, made at the start of the school board’s Wednesday meeting, casts light on McDonald’s talk to a group of at-risk students at Tennyson High School, arranged through the Hayward Promise Neighborhood initiative.

McDonald has pleaded not guilty in Santa Clara County Superior Court to criminal charges of raping an intoxicated woman in December 2014.

His visit sparked angry reactions from some parents soon afterward, prompting an apology from the district and a subsequent talk to the same students in April by prominent attorney Gloria Allred, who requested the visit. She is representing the woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by McDonald.

School board president Lisa Brunner said the board’s action followed a complaint from outgoing Tennyson High School principal Lori Villanueva, who asked that her name be cleared in the incident before she leaves.

“I never feel like we should have apologized because, like I told Stan, we didn’t bring him (McDonald) in as a role model,” Brunner said. “We brought him in as a motivational speaker to convey, ‘Don’t do what I did. I screwed up my life,’ so I was mad about that because none of it was done with the board.”

Contact Darin Moriki at 510-293-2480 or follow him at Twitter.com/darinmoriki