Grapevine-Colleyville school board votes to seek legal fees from former principal

The Grapevile-Colleyville school board voted 6-0 Monday to go after former Colleyville Heritage High School principal James Whitfield for legal fees.

Newly elected Place 2 trustee Dalia Begin abstained from the vote.

It comes after Whitfield unsuccessfully sued the district and board member Tammy Nakamura for disparaging him during a June 2022 school board panel discussion sponsored by the Republican National Committee. He alleged her comments violated a November 2021 settlement agreement.

Nakamura told the panel that Whitfield’s activism led to calls for his dismissal, citing accusations he’d promoted so-called “critical race theory.”

However, Nakamura, who was elected in May 2022, argued in court documents she wasn’t bound by the settlement, because she wasn’t a board member when it was signed. A Tarrant County court agreed, and dismissed the case against her in June 2023.

The district then pushed to throw out the rest of the case, arguing Nakamura’s comments didn’t violate the agreement. The court dismissed that case on April 11.

Now the district will try to get Whitfield to pay for its legal fees.

“Grapevine-Colleyville taxpayers should not have to pay for one man’s political quest,” Nakamura said after Monday’s vote. She thanked her fellow board members for their vote, and said she’s looking forward to moving past the lawsuit.

Whitfield did not immediately respond to a text message requesting comment after the vote Monday night.

Whitfield was the first Black principal at Colleyville Heritage High School when he was hired in 2020. In July 2021, a former school board candidate accused Whitfield of promoting“critical race theory,” which led to calls for his firing.

After a series of board meetings, the district and Whitfield reached a settlement where he would remain on administrative leave until August 2023 in exchange for not commenting on the dispute publicly.

Whitfield took to social media Sunday to point out that Judge Megan Fahey, who presided over both cases, received a $5,000 political donation from lawyer and school board candidate Mike Alfred. The post noted Alfred had worked for board president Shannon Braun in 2021, and filed to run for school board roughly a month after making the donation.

Alfred lost his race for Place 2 to Begin by 29 votes during the May 4 election.

When asked if he believed Alfred’s political donation influenced the outcome of his case, he said, “I’ll leave that for others to decide. I just want there to be a level of transparency surrounding these happenings,” in an email to the Star-Telegram ahead of Monday’s vote.

Alfred vehemently denied the suggestion that his donation played any role in the case. He said he’s been friends with Fahey’s husband for over 25 years, called her a very qualified judge, and said the county needs more like her.

He also noted his donation was less than 10% of the total amount she’s raised since 2020, and called the suggestion she would be swayed to by his donation “stupid.”

Whitfield currently serves as the superintendent of Treetops School International in Euless.