How the handling of Heritage High principal could haunt Colleyville school district

James Whitfield, the principal of Colleyville Heritage High School, may be on his way out after months of rancor. But in time, the real lesson of his case may be this: Watch out for unintended consequences.

Grapevine-Colleyville school trustees voted unanimously late Monday to move ahead with non-renewal of the principal’s contract, which expires at the end of the current school year. Whitfield will have opportunities to make his case, but at this point, he’s unlikely to remain in the job.

Whitfield, the school’s first Black principal, was targeted over accusations that he promotes “critical race theory” after he wrote an impassioned letter to Heritage parents over racial issues when George Floyd was killed. He drew strong support, including a student walkout on his behalf, when he was placed on administrative leave. But the superintendent recommended to trustees that Whitfield’s contract not be renewed.

Trustees may think that moving ahead could lower the temperature on matters of race. For everyone’s sake, let’s hope they’re right. But fights on what our schools teach about history and the effect of racism on our society aren’t going away.

Superintendent Robin Ryan stressed that “this recommendation is not about Dr. Whitfield’s race. It’s not about pictures of Dr. Whitfield. It’s not about critical race theory. It’s not about certain individuals in our community calling for his resignation or his firing.”

The district’s top human resources official laid out issues that she said Whitfield had been counseled about, including insufficient communication, attempts to destroy emails and a lack of honesty in discussing his case with the news media. Whitfield was insubordinate and violated district policy, she said.

In a disciplinary letter, according to the Texas Tribune, Ryan also cited a now-infamous Facebook photo of Whitfield and his wife that many saw as too racy for a public-school administrator to have posted.

In personnel matters, employers must tread carefully. And the board obviously believes it must support the superintendent’s findings. All of us should remain circumspect about what we don’t know about his tenure and his relationship with his bosses.

Whitfield clearly bears some fault. His public criticism of his employer on COVID-19 policies at a time when he knew he was under scrutiny was a mistake.

Trustees said they wanted to proceed in part so that Whitfield could defend himself in a hearing before the board. But the decision will have consequences that could raise the heat, not lower it. It will embolden some to scrutinize every aspect of educators’ lives and come after those they don’t like.

It could also send a message to other employees, and to candidates the district might like to recruit, about the difficulties of working in GCISD, especially for minority administrators and teachers.

As we said when this topic came to the forefront in Southlake and Fort Worth, it’s good that more people are engaged in their local school boards. But complaints and concerns must be based on facts, not broad and vague accusations about what’s being taught. And school leaders must be upfront about the approach they’re bringing to such matters.

Teachers, administrators and trustees have a difficult job here, made no easier by two new state laws, meant to constrain teachings on current events and certain perspectives, whose meaning and impact remain unclear.

They’ll have to find a way for the district, and Heritage in particular, to move forward. It’ll take a strong leader and good communicator with skills at forging compromise to return the focus to academics.

Finding such a person — and supporting his or her work — may be only harder after Monday’s decision.