Religious leaders, community activists and teachers called on Fort Worth ISD to reinstate a Muslim educator reassigned from her newly appointed role as principal after the announcement of her hire drew online backlash.
FWISD announced Shayma Alzubi as Western Hills High School’s new principal in late May, but reassigned her from the role after screenshots of Alzubi’s social media that were circulated online indicated her support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Palestinians and immigrants.
Alzubi, an assistant principal at Southwest High School, now faces an investigation after the district determined the posts may not align with the district’s social media policy and expectations for staff, Louis Kushner, chief of staff, said in a May 26 statement.
“Our district leaders, educators and staff will not inject personal political perspectives into classrooms,” Kushner wrote.
Inside the Islamic Unity Center in southeast Fort Worth Thursday afternoon, faith leaders, educators and activists voiced their opposition of the district’s handling of Alzubi’s reassignment and described the move as the result of an “anti-Muslim witch hunt.”
“This was not reassignment. This was intimidation,” said Fadya Salem, a Palestinian organizer.
“By removing her appointment, Fort Worth ISD sent a message to families like us that organized online hate can decide who is allowed to lead our schools.”
At Thursday’s news conference nearly a dozen speakers called for an end to the investigation on Alzubi, demanded her reinstatement as principal and asked for an apology “for all the baseless statements issued against her,” said Noor Wadi, an attorney and an organizer with the Faith Power Alliance.
FWISD’s announcement of Alzubi’s appointment — which is no longer on the district’s Facebook page — included a photo of the Fort Worth educator who wears an Islamic head scarf called a hijab.
Mustafaa Carroll, executive director of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said he wasn’t surprised that the announcement sparked backlash online.
The political opposition to American Muslims reminds Carroll of what Black Americans faced in the Civil Rights Movement, he said.
“I wish I could say this happened in a vacuum, but it didn’t. It didn’t happen in a vacuum. In recent months, Texas Muslims have been targeted by a vicious campaign of hate by some political leaders in the state,” Carroll said.
Carroll said the national Muslim advocacy group received 8,683 anti-Muslim bias complaints nationwide last year, marking the highest number of reports the organization has received since its first report in 1996.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national Muslim advocacy group, as a foreign terrorist organization last year. CAIR is currently suing Abbott over the designation, calling it unconstitutional and defamatory.
FWISD is complying with a state law prohibiting teachers from discussing a widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs and is ensuring all issues will be explored without bias, Kushner wrote in a statement.
Brandon Hall, a Republican member of the State Board of Education who represents Fort Worth, said in a statement that he believes the district made the correct decision to open an investigation and reassign Alzubi.
“I believe the investigation will show a history of extreme public posts defending Sharia law, and using ‘Free Palestine’ rhetoric that is often connected to calls for violence against Jewish people,” Hall wrote. “She should not be in a position of school leadership or employed by the District at all if that is the conclusion of this investigation.”
Deb Armintor, who represents the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, said Alzubi’s posts were on her private social media account. Alzubi exercised her First Amendment right as a private citizen, Armintor said.
FWISD previously investigated a substitute teacher in January 2025 who, according to district officials, posted requests on social media asking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport students from North Side High School.
In 2019, the district fired a teacher after she tweeted anti-immigrant sentiments to the president. The courts upheld her firing after the Texas Education Agency directed the district to give the teacher her job back.
The Report asked Kushner for clarity on Fort Worth ISD’s social media policy, which posts of Alzubi’s conflict with the district’s expectations and the status of her employment.
Kushner, the chief of staff, said in a statement that details could not be provided due to it being an open investigation.
The Report reached out to Alzubi but did not hear back by time of publication.
Personnel decisions must be based on professional merit, not on a person’s faith, race or personal belief, said Kristin Klade, a Lutheran pastor and a FWISD parent leading the group Families Organized and Resisting Takeover, or FORT.
“I pray that every Muslim girl can look up to Miss Alzubi with joy, without any fear that they will lose opportunities or be discriminated against because of their expression of faith and because of who they are,” Klade said.
Alzubi has worked in the district since 2013.
Ale Checka, a teacher at Southwest High and educator of 18 years, said at the news conference that she didn’t know anything about Alzubi's faith or her politics.
Alzubi was the person Checka called for help when students brought a duckling into her classroom, she said. Alzubi was someone who would speak to a disruptive student in a way that didn’t make them feel diminished or discouraged but ready to learn, she said.
“We so desperately need people like Miss Alzubi in the school, and God bless everybody here, but I don't care what you put on social media six years ago, unless and until it is affecting the students in my school,” Checka said. “ I do not want to hear what they believe in their free time. It is none of my business.”
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org.
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