We will have to wait another week to find out the fate of suspended Colleyville Heritage High School principal James Whitfield.
The Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District Superintendent has recommended the firing of the principal at the center of a controversy.
Whitfield was placed on paid administrative leave last week.
The school board was expected to vote on Whitfield's employment Monday but will now decide next Monday.
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Whitfield, who is Black, was named principal of Colleyville Heritage ahead of the 2020-21 school year.
Whitfield says he's being targeted for two reasons: First, he says he's been accused online and in board meetings of teaching critical race theory. Second, he says pictures with his wife from a social media post celebrating his anniversary have ruffled feathers.
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In a statement to NBC 5, a district spokesperson said some of the photos "contained poses that are questionable for an educator, especially a principal or administrator."
The district says neither of the reasons Whitfield has pointed to is why he has been placed on leave, calling it a "personnel matter."
What is Critical Race Theory?
Critical race theory is a way of thinking about America’s history through the lens of racism. Scholars developed it during the 1970s and 1980s in response to what they viewed as a lack of racial progress following the civil rights legislation of the 1960s. It centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nation’s institutions and that they function to maintain the dominance of white people in society. The architects of the theory argue that the United States was founded on the theft of land and labor and that federal law has preserved the unequal treatment of people on the basis of race. Proponents also believe race is culturally invented, not biological. Read more about CRT here.
