Dallas ISD principal removed after a segregated meeting Dallas ISD principal removed after a segregated meeting

Dallas ISD removed the Woodrow Wilson High School principal following controversy over an academic meeting held only for Black students that parents felt was discriminatory and unfairly assigned blame for the school’s performance rating.

DALLAS – Dallas ISD removed the principal of Woodrow Wilson High School after she called a meeting with only Black students about their academic performance.

The parent of one student in that meeting told FOX 4 that she found the meeting offensive.

Accusations of blame and school ratings

Local perspective:

Woodrow Wilson parents say they felt Black students were being blamed for the school having a B rating. 

We should point out, the school earned a C rating in its previous review, and while the principal has been removed, some parents still want more answers. 

“The principal stated how they are the reason for the B rating. And it was not like oh you guys helped raise it to a B it was you guys are the reason we are not an A school,” said Jennifer, a Woodrow Wilson parent. 

That is how one parent interpreted Principal Chandra Hooper-Barnett’s message to her son, a 10th grade honor student.

Jennifer said her son and the other Black students were pulled out of class for the meeting. 

“It was responsibility placed on students instead of administrators saying hey we are going to do this,” she said.

Principal acknowledges and apologizes

What they’re saying:

The principal, who is also Black, later acknowledged the meeting was not appropriate in a letter to parents. She wrote: 

“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.”

Dallas ISD takes swift action

Dig deeper:

On Monday, Dallas ISD sent a letter to parents saying Hooper-Barnett had been removed after three years leading Woodrow Wilson, telling parents Danielle Peters is the interim principal. DISD did not directly address the content of the meeting, which is still under review.

Parents call for more transparency

What’s next:

While some parents are happy about Hooper-Barnett being removed, they still want answers. 

“I am happy the district moved swiftly and tried to get this resolved, but I do want them to hold a town hall with parents to provide facts and transparency vs. rumors and hearsay.”

It’s unclear if Hooper-Barnett is going to be assigned to another school. Last, she was named one of the principals of the year for the district.

The Source: Information in this article was provided from an interview conducted by FOX 4’s Steven Dial.

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