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James Whitfield, principal of Colleyville Heritage High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was put on leave Monday, a month after a community member at a school board meeting publicly accused him to have “extreme opinions about the race” and called him to be fired.
The decision to put Whitfield on administrative leave was not the result of complaints by members of the community against him, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District said in a statement to CNN.
“We remain committed to providing a learning environment at Colleyville Heritage that fosters and encourages student academic and extracurricular success,” Robin Ryan, district superintendent, said in a letter to parents Monday and obtained by CNN.
At a July 26 school board meeting, Stetson Clark, a former school board candidate, said he was concerned about the “implementation of critical race theory in our district” and appointed Whitfield as someone with “extreme race opinions”.
“Because of his extreme views, I am asking that a full review of Mr. Whitfield’s tenure in our district be reviewed and that his contract be terminated with immediate effect,” Clark said at the meeting.
Clark said a friend shared a letter Whitfield sent to parents and students last year, which Clark said showed the principal “promotes a conspiracy theory about systemic racism.”
The controversy in high school and around Whitfield comes as a number of parents and community members across the state have urged that critical race theory not be taught in schools.
Over the past year, critical race theory has sparked heated discussion and protests at school board meetings as well as among lawmakers who say it should be banned from being taught in classrooms. Educators across the United States have said the theory is not included in the K-12 curriculum.
Whitfield has already defended himself and responded to calls for his dismissal in a Facebook post last month.
“I can no longer remain silent in the face of this hatred, this intolerance, this racism and this fanaticism,” he said in a July 31 message. “I am not the Boogeyman CRT (Critical Race Theory). I am the first African American to assume the role of principal of my current school in its 25 year history, and I am keenly aware of the fear that it strikes the hearts of a small minority who would much rather see things back to normal. ”
Whitfield has been employed by the school district since 2018 and has been principal of Colleyville Heritage High School since last year, the district spokesperson said.
About 53.1% of students at Grapevine-Colleyville ISD are white, compared to 25.4% who are Hispanic, 10% who are Asian and about 6% who are black, according to data from the Texas Education Agency.
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