Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Releases New Statement On Decision To Put Principal James Whitfield On Paid Administrative Leave

GRAPEVINE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Grapevine-Colleyville ISD responded to concerns from the public about the reason or reasons behind its decision to put Colleyville Heritage High Principal James Whitfield on paid administrative leave on Monday, August 30.

Without disclosing why the decision was made, GCISD shared a list of concerns that did not lead to district leaders' decision to put Whitfield on leave, including public statements at a recent school board meeting, allegations he was teaching Critical Race Theory or because photos on his social media account of him and his wife that some felt were inappropriate.

None of those issues led to Whitfield's being put on paid administrative leave, the school district said.

Here is GCPISD's full statement on the matter on Wednesday, Sept 1:

The District has received numerous questions regarding the decision to place Dr. James Whitfield on paid administrative leave. While the status of this as an ongoing personnel matter limits the information that the District can disclose about the events leading up to this decision, the speculation and conjecture that surround these events warrant some additional context.

The decision to place Dr. Whitfield on administrative leave was not a result of statements made by members of the public, including those who spoke at recent meetings of the GCISD Board of Trustees. Nor was the decision made in response to allegations Dr. Whitfield was teaching Critical Race Theory, or because of the photos on his social media account that were brought to the attention of the District in 2019.

GCISD welcomed Dr. Whitfield as an assistant principal at Colleyville Heritage High School in 2018, then promoted him to principal at Heritage Middle School in 2019. One year later, in 2020, he was promoted again to the principal of Colleyville Heritage High School.

We understand that members of our community have questions, but the District does not resolve personnel matters in the media. We have established procedures for that which we are following.

We are fully committed to coming together and focusing first and foremost on providing an excellent education for all of the students we serve.