Colleyville Heritage principal’s job on hold after school board postpones meeting
The specially-called meeting where Grapevine-Colleyville school board trustees were to decide whether Colleyville Heritage High School’s first Black principal could keep his job was postponed because some trustees could not attend.
The school district announced on Twitter that the meeting to discuss James Whitfield’s contract will now take place Sept. 20 at 5 p.m.
David Henderson, a civil rights attorney with the Ellwinger law firm and who is representing Whitfield, said in a news release that the district was aware that not all trustees could attend when the agenda was posted late Friday.
“Shortly before GCISD scheduled the meeting, Dr. Whitfield was told for the first time that Superintendent Robin Ryan would recommend today (Sept. 13) that the Board vote against renewing his contract. GCISD refused to explain why. Representatives told Dr. Whitfield to expect an explanation after the Board votes, implying that his fate is already sealed.”
Henderson said the superintendent should withdraw his recommendation not to renew Whitfield’s contract and that the district’s lack of transparency is taking an unnecessary and substantial emotional toll on Whitfield, his family and the students that he is serving.
The agenda for Monday night’s meeting was posted at 5 p.m. Friday, the same day that over 100 students walked out of their classes to protest the district’s decision to place Whitfield on paid administrative leave.
The students said they want an explanation from administrators concerning specific reasons why Whitfield is on leave. The district issued a statement which said that it was a personnel matter.
Whitfield has been on paid administrative leave since late August.
Whitfield came under scrutiny during a July 26 board meeting when former school board candidate Stetson Clark spoke during public comments, stating that Whitfield was teaching critical race theory, and calling for Whitfield to be fired, which drew cheers from some in the audience. Clark also named the principal several times which is against school board policy.
Board president Jorge Rodriguez asked Clark to stop using Whitfield’s name several times during his speech.
However, Whitfield told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram previously that he sought an apology from the board but never received one.
Whitfield also wrote a lengthy Facebook post on July 31 describing how the problems began after he posted about the death of George Floyd and that he has experienced racial attacks during the past several months.
When Whitfield was named principal at Heritage Middle School, he was asked to take down photos he and his wife, who is white, had taken on the beach during their 10th anniversary in Mexico.
Whitfield was named Colleyville Heritage principal in May of 2020.
This story was originally published September 13, 2021 at 6:24 PM.