A federal judge decided that Fort Worth ISD will not be forced to reinstate educator Shayma Alzubi as principal of Western Hills High School.
Judge Mark Pittman of the Northern District of Texas issued his decision Tuesday after he found the reassignment — and later promotion — did not harm Alzubi’s employment. The district reassigned her after receiving threats over her social media posts.
“Alzubi is not a scapegoat, nor has she lost her freedom of speech,” Pittman wrote in his opinion. “Alzubi 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.”
Pittman's opinion in Alzubi lawsuit (With Watermark)Download
Jason Smith, Alzubi’s attorney, and Fort Worth ISD spokesperson Jessica Becerra did not immediately respond to requests to comment.
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’s COVID-19 mask policy that received online backlash.
The temporary reassignment was necessary for the safety of Alzubi and Western Hills staff after she received threatening messages, the district’s attorneys wrote.
FWISD offered Alzubi a promotion that came with a $130,000 salary — nearly $10,000 more than the principal salary, according to court documents.
Pittman agreed that the threats prevented FWISD from being able to conduct its duties.
“Alzubi 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’s professional preferences,” Pittman wrote.
The judge also questioned whether the lawsuit was a good use of either the district’s or Alzubi’s resources.
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or @_jacob_sanchez.
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’s 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.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
