A former principal of Colleyville Heritage High School has been ordered to pay the Grapevine-Colleyville school district $71,791.52 in lawyer fees.
The legal fees arose from a defamation lawsuit involving Dr. James Whitfield, the principal at that time, the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (GCISD) Board of Trustees, and Tammy Nakamura, a school board member.
The background
Whitfield had been with the school district since 2018 and was the first black principal in the school’s 25-year history.
In May 2020, Whitfield faced criticism from parents and school officials for his purported concerning communication with teachers and staff, which included sending a contentious email to all families, faculty, and staff regarding the “recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor,” as noted earlier by The Dallas Express.
In June 2021, Whitfield received his end-of-year evaluation, which included poor ratings regarding his collaboration with teachers and staff, leadership skills, and inability to “lead the development of initiatives for school improvement.”
The controversy flared at a school board meeting on July 26, 2021, when Stetson Clark, a former candidate for the school board, accused Whitfield of promoting the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and expressing extremist views regarding race, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Whitfield then took to social media and conducted media interviews to respond to the parents’ and district’s concerns, attracting unwanted attention to the district.
In September 2021, the GCISD Board of Trustees voted not to renew Whitfield’s contract. Whitfield would be placed on administrative leave with pay until his contract expired in August 2023.
Whitfield disputed the termination of his contract, which resulted in Whitfield and the GCISD board entering into mediation.
The mediation settlement was agreed upon in November 2021. Part of the settlement agreement included forbidding the GCISD Board from speaking poorly of Whitfield.
Enters Tammy Nakamura
Tammy Nakamura was elected to the GCISD Board of Trustees in May 2022 and allegedly made public statements regarding Whitfield’s conduct during a June 2022 event organized by the Republican National Committee, which Whitfield maintained violated the agreement.
As a result, Whitfield sued the GCISD board as a whole and Nakamura individually for allegedly breaching the mediated settlement agreement.
Nakamura would respond, with her attorneys arguing that their client is not bound by the agreement made by the GCISD board before her capacity as a board member and that it does not preclude her from speaking on her own behalf at events.
The court eventually decided in favor of Nakamura, concluding that she did not violate any regulations as she was not part of the board when the agreement was established. As reported by The Dallas Express, this resulted in the dismissal of the lawsuit.
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff’s claims against Defendant Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District (GCISD) are dismissed with prejudice and Plaintiff take nothing,” per the filed case signed by Judge Megan Fahey.
Whitfield Ordered To Pay
GSISD officially requested Whitfield reimburse the attorney fees incurred during legal proceedings.
This request led to a recent court ruling that addressed the matter. On November 5, District Judge Megan Fahey rendered the final judgment, determining that Whitfield was liable to pay the school district a total of $71,791.52, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“The Court also determined that such fees are equitable and just and are so intertwined that segregation of fees between Plaintiffs claims is not required,” Fahey wrote in her decision, per FWST.
For his part, Whitfield will meet with his legal team to discuss the next steps, as he has asserts he kept his end of the agreement.
“I’ve done my best to uphold my end of the bargain and comply with the agreement. The irony of me paying someone else’s fees for breaching the agreement doesn’t sit well with me,” said Whitfield, per FWST.
Nakamura, however, has already communicated that this ruling is a win, texting FWST: “I am thankful the courts have sided with GCISD and this confirms what I’ve said all along: Whitfield is simply playing politics, the gravest type of politics — those designed to tear our community apart. I look forward to Whitfield making the taxpayers whole when he pays GCISD’s legal fees.”
Ready To Move On
“I just want to move on with my life. I was able to secure a new position in a place where I’m thriving and focus on my family. For this to continue is unnecessary,” Whitfield said, per FWST.
Whitfield is currently the superintendent at Treetops School International in Euless, a charter school serving kindergarten to 12th-grade students. He is trying to focus on this next chapter of his life.