Anger, allegations at one of Tarrant County’s oldest charter schools
Dozens of parents of students at Treetops School International, a Euless charter school, are accusing school officials of mismanagement and misdeeds. Others say the ones making those allegations are merely disgruntled after Treetops did away with its middle school and high school grades.
Now, in what was a formerly tight-knit community, there is dissension and anger, much of it aimed at Superintendent James Whitfield, who is himself no stranger to controversy and who is under investigation by the Texas Education Agency stemming from at least one parental complaint, though it’s unclear exactly which one.
‘Life-changing decisions’ at Treetops
At a Feb. 19 meeting, the Treetops board of directors voted to close the upper school after the 2024-25 school year, eliminating seventh through 12th grades. According to administrators, this was done to slash costs and focus on elementary and intermediate grades where the bulk of Treetops’ enrollment is concentrated.
At the same time, the board adopted a four-day school week starting in 2025-26 in an effort to attract and retain teachers.
On Feb. 24, Treetops parents sent a joint email to Whitfield, board of directors President Mike Sacken, board member Anthony Johnson, Treetops’ business manager Stephanie Kaimana and Principal Stephanie Cobb.
In that email, the parents expressed “deep disappointment” in the decisions to eliminate the upper school and shorten the instructional week.
“These are life-changing decisions for many of us, and we have little time to deal with the repercussions of these decisions and plan for our students next school year,” the email read.
Established as a private school in 1969 before converting to a charter school in 1998, Treetops’ 2024-25 enrollment was 343. Nearly 70% of that was concentrated in kindergarten through sixth grade.
In a phone call with the Star-Telegram, some of the same parents responsible for the Feb. 24 email accused Whitfield of mismanagement. They also claimed they had received no response to their request for a meeting with Whitfield and other administrators, though Whitfield and Sacken vehemently denied that at the school’s May 21 board meeting.
“This is a record,” Sacken said in reference to the capacity crowd of parents jammed into the Treetops board room for that meeting. “Our previous record was four,” he joked.
Only one parent signed up for public comments that night. Another said he was “waiting for a more appropriate time” to voice his displeasure. When a parent publicly called out Whitfield, though, Sacken, a retired professor of education at TCU, broke board meeting protocol and took time to engage with those in attendance and explain the circumstances behind the school’s recent decisions.
In short, Sacken said, it comes down to funding. According to him, Treetops would need an additional $75,000 to $100,000 a year to continue operating as a kindergarten through 12th grade institution.
“Twenty-five years ago, we were a month away from not making payroll,” Sacken said, before vowing to never let the school get to that point again.
In Sacken’s estimation, if substantial changes weren’t made, the school would be forced to close within 10 years.
Criticisms against Whitfield
The target of much of the parents’ vitriol was Whitfield. He was previously the principal at Colleyville Heritage High School, but he and the school parted ways in 2021 after Whitfield was accused of promoting Critical Race Theory, the idea that racism is embedded in America’s social and political fabric. Whitfield denied that accusation, saying he was the victim of racist attacks.
When he was hired in 2020, Whitfield was the first black principal in the history of Colleyville Heritage.
Treetops parents who spoke with the Star-Telegram said Whitfield wasn’t doing enough to solicit public and private grants to shore up Treetops’ finances. The most troubling of all the accusations, though, was that Whitfield covered up an incident of abuse at the school.
In September, a student accused a high school teacher of placing her hands around his neck and choking him. According to email communications provided by Treetops parents, the teacher said this was done in a joking manner and apologized.
“We investigated to the fullest extent of our abilities,” said Whitfield. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services also investigated. While the department would not comment on the matter, citing privacy policies, Whitfield said nothing came of those investigations.
In a text exchange with the Star-Telegram, Whitfield said Family and Protective Services issued a finding of “Ruled Out,” meaning the agency determined “it is reasonable to conclude that the abuse or neglect has not occurred based on the information that is available.”
The teacher remained employed at Treetops through the end of the school year. The student who made the abuse accusation remained at Treetops and graduated in the spring, according to his mother, Tessa Smith.
Smith told the Star-Telegram her son attempted to file a police report, but he was passed back and forth between the Euless and Fort Worth police departments. Neither department has a record of a formal report being filed. Smith confirmed Family and Protective Services investigated, but she said she never heard anything from the agency regarding a resolution.
Whitfield said he heard nothing more about the September abuse allegation until the decision was made to cut the upper school and reduce the instructional week to four days. At that point, he said, parents brought up the alleged incident again in private text exchanges and Facebook chats, which Whitfield said were shared with him.
Support for Whitfield
Whitfield took the superintendent role at Treetops in 2023. He said he was warmly welcomed at that time, and said he still feels he has the majority of the parents’ support.
One of those parents, Tessa Sharp, spoke highly of Whitfield and the school after the May 21 board meeting. Sharp’s older daughter attended Treetops from kindergarten through sixth grade, and her younger daughter was a fifth-grader during the 2024-25 school year.
“A lot of people are mistaking inconvenience to their lives for injustice,” Sharp said, referring to the shortened instructional week and the upper school’s closure. Sharp said she understood how those changes affected families, but she felt the board made the best decision it could after analyzing the financial projections.
“I trust the administration,” added Sharp. “I have no reason not to.”
Likewise, Treetops’ faculty seems largely happy with Whitfield’s leadership, according to conversations teachers had with the Star-Telegram. Open lower school teaching positions for 2025-26 were filled by upper school teachers, said Whitfield, indicating a desire to stay.
Erin Flores, a first grade teacher, and Jas Asbill, an intermediate teacher, both stayed after the May 21 meeting and talked with the Star-Telegram.
“I have never wanted to work anywhere else,” said Flores. She said Treetops was “life saving” for her son, and she was thrilled when she got a job teaching there.
Asbill agreed, saying she had no desire to leave Treetops and that she enjoyed working under Whitfield and Principal Stephanie Cobb.
As far as the parents’ accusations of financial mismanagement, in August 2024, Treetops earned an “A” on the Texas Education Agency’s financial integrity scorecard, receiving a passing grade in all 19 of the categories on which the school was rated.
A TEA spokesperson said those grades are based on thorough reviews, and that Treetops parents can put their faith in the results.
While many Treetops parents remain unconvinced, Whitfield told the Star-Telegram in a text message exchange that enrollment for next year is around 240 students. The goal, Whitfield wrote, is 250 to 260 students. Eventually, he hopes to build back up to closer to 350.
As far as the TEA investigation into Whitfield, it is still ongoing. A TEA spokesperson said there’s no timeline for it to be completed.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 10:21 AM.