A federal judge decided that Fort Worth ISD will not be forced to reinstate educator Shayma Alzubi as principal of Western Hills High School.<\/p>\n
Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas issued his decision Tuesday after he found the reassignment \u2014 and later promotion \u2014 did not harm Alzubi\u2019s employment. The district reassigned her after receiving threats<\/a> over her social media posts.<\/p>\n \u201cAlzubi is not a scapegoat, nor has she lost her freedom of speech,\u201d Pittman wrote in his opinion. \u201cAlzubi made posts on her personal social media account, which received a negative public response upon the public announcement of her new role. The backlash not only puts Alzubi in danger, but also her coworkers and students.\u201d<\/p>\n Pittman’s opinion in Alzubi lawsuit (With Watermark)<\/a>Download<\/a> Alzubi alleged that FWISD violated her First Amendment guarantee of free speech and 14th Amendment equal protection rights by reassigning her after she made social media posts about Palestinians, Black Lives Matter, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, Islam and the district\u2019s COVID-19 mask policy that received online backlash.<\/p>\n The temporary reassignment was necessary for the safety of Alzubi and Western Hills staff after she received threatening messages, the district\u2019s attorneys wrote.<\/p>\n FWISD offered Alzubi a promotion that came with a $130,000 salary<\/a> \u2014 nearly $10,000 more than the principal salary, according to court documents.<\/p>\n Pittman agreed that the threats prevented FWISD from being able to conduct its duties.<\/p>\n \u201cAlzubi is within her right to post whatever she wants, but the district is also well within its right to put the overall safety of its community over a single individual\u2019s professional preferences,\u201d Pittman wrote.<\/p>\n The judge also questioned whether the lawsuit was a good use of either the district\u2019s or Alzubi\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @_jacob_sanchez<\/a>.<\/p>\n Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report\u2019s reader advisory council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This article<\/a> first appeared on Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Jason Smith, Alzubi\u2019s attorney, and Fort Worth ISD spokesperson Jessica Becerra did not immediately respond to requests to comment.<\/p>\n