Woodrow Wilson High School Principal Chandra Hooper-Barnett will not return to the school, according to a Tuesday letter from Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde to families.
Hooper-Barnett came under scrutiny in recent days after she held a meeting with only Black students about their academic performance, two parents told The Dallas Morning News. District officials named Danielle Petters as interim principal Monday.
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In Elizalde’s letter, which acknowledged a recent meeting but did not include details of what occurred, Elizalde said the meeting was “not sanctioned and should not have happened.”
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“Many of you, understandably, have questions and concerns about what transpired during the meeting, and you deserve answers,” she wrote. “While I am committed to transparency, I ask for your patience to allow time for our internal process to be fully completed.”
She said the decision was made “after reviewing preliminary details” and made “with our students’ best interest in mind.”
In a letter to families Monday, Hooper-Barnett acknowledged she held a meeting during an advisory period last week that “caused concern within our school community.”
“The decision to hold that meeting and subsequent discussion that transpired was not appropriate. I take full ownership and responsibility for what occurred, and I want to assure you that it was never my intent to single out or cause harm to any group of students,” Hooper-Barnett wrote.
Chandra Hooper-Barnett served as principal of Woodrow Wilson High School for three years.
An archived webpage from Dallas ISD
Woodrow Wilson, located in East Dallas, served nearly 2,000 students last school year, per state data. Black students made up 6% of the campus population in the 2023-24 school year. The school received a B in this year’s academic accountability ratings.
Hooper-Barnett led the school for three years. Before that, she was the principal at J.L. Long Middle School. She has been an educator for 22 years and is a multiyear Teacher of the Year recipient for her work teaching reading to special education students, according to the school’s website.
On Monday, Jennifer Bush, a parent of a sophomore at Woodrow Wilson, called for Hooper-Barnett to be removed, describing the trust between families and the school as “broken.”
Bush said her son was pulled out of class to attend an assembly Friday, where all of the students were Black, for a discussion about their academic performance.
“He said that Principal Barnett stated that those students, the Black students, were the reason why the school had a B rating,” she said.
When Bush heard that, she was “livid,” she said. Her son has a 3.5 GPA and is in advanced placement and college classes.
“She’s Black as well. You have a historical position … and this is what you do. That’s insane,” she said.
Bush said she isn’t sure how the school community moves forward from this.
“These kids need to know that they’re enough,” she said.
Petters — who served as principal of J.L. Long for seven years and H. Grady Spruce High School for four — will serve as interim principal of the campus, according to a Monday letter from Aaron Aguirre-Castillo, executive director of Dallas ISD’s Woodrow Wilson vertical team, which oversees the elementary, middle and high schools in a feeder pattern.
Petters was previously the executive director of Woodrow Wilson’s vertical team. She worked in Dallas ISD for over three decades and is a longtime coach for school leaders, according to her LinkedIn profile.
“I have full faith in her ability to build trust in this community and confidence in our campus leadership,” Elizalde wrote of Petters.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.