"I Have Done Nothing Wrong": Suburban Dallas Principal on Leave After Parent Group Accuses Him of Promoting "Critical Race Theory"

Colleyville Heritage High School principal James Whitfield has been placed on paid administrative leave, according to Grapevine-Colleyville ISD officials.

In a letter to parents Monday, Superintendent Robin Ryan wrote that Whitfield has been placed on leave but that he would “not go into the specifics because it is a personnel matter.”

Whitfield told The Dallas Morning News on Monday night that he was told he was put on leave indefinitely “because the superintendent has ‘determined that doing so is in the best interest of the District.’”

“I have done nothing wrong by anyone,” Whitfield said.

The move comes a week after the principal and a crowd of supporters attended a school board meeting to address claims from a group of parents who say he is teaching critical race theory.

The curriculum, an academic framework that says racism is a systemic problem perpetuated by government policies and institutions, is not taught in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD, multiple sources in the district have said.

At a board meeting a few weeks before last week’s, the parent group accused Whitfield by name — which is against school board meeting rules.

“I’ve only chosen to speak out against baseless allegations after [the district] allowed a man to speak my name at the July 26 board meeting,” Whitfield said.

On July 31, Whitfield responded to the claims in a lengthy Facebook post. He wrote that he can’t ask others to speak up if he won’t, and that being a school administrator “does not take away my rights and ability to be human and defend myself.”

“I am not the CRT (Critical Race Theory) Boogeyman. I am the first African American to assume the role of Principal at my current school in its 25-year history, and I am keenly aware of how much fear this strikes in the hearts of a small minority who would much rather things go back to the way they used to be,” he wrote.