Dallas ISD has placed a former campus leader in a new principal job after taking her out of her previous school, KERA News reported. Chandra Hooper-Barnett faced accusations that she called only Black students into a meeting to talk about poor grades.
According to the outlet, Hooper-Barnett, who is Black, was removed from WWHS last semester over the alleged gathering limited to Black students.
On Friday, the district named her principal at Lincoln High School, where KERA News reported that more than 70% of students are Black, reports Atlanta Black Star.
October letter from the superintendent set out the first decision
KERA News obtained an October letter from Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde that spoke to the episode. The letter said, “This decision was carefully considered and made with our students’ best interest in mind.” Elizalde said that “after reviewing preliminary details,” Hooper-Barnett would not return. Teachers have been let go under unexpected circumstances, like the time a teacher was allegedly fired after returning from vacation to a mold infested classroom.
Hooper-Barnett sent her own letter at the time. The letter obtained by NBC 5 said, “The decision to hold the meeting and the discussion that transpired was not appropriate.” It continued, “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.”
When asked about the new assignment, the district told KERA News it stays focused on student outcomes and will keep making choices “in the best interest of our students.” Controversy over grading has been seen in other schools across the country, like the time a Michigan school allegedly gave low grades to female students who refused to disclose sensitive personal information.
Public reaction on Facebook was mixed. One person said the approach was flawed, but the motive made sense. Ambra Phillips-Dunn wrote, “Her method was a bad choice, but I completely understand why she did it!!!”
Another person, Efrain Villa, wrote, “Coming from her, it just sounds like she was trying to help and was concerned for those students. Doesn’t sound malicious or bad, maybe just done out of frustration looking at the scores of certain students. I met her at an open house, and she’s a very nice person. She just wants them to try harder and excel. If it would have been a different race principal, then yeah, that would have been offensive. I think it’s just a sign of tough love.”
A further commenter said outsiders could not see what pressure the district may have applied. Reginald Shed added, “Nobody knows what kind of pressure came down from the district that they are not talking about.”
One commenter said the share of Black students at the first school was too small to drive a rating change. Jacki Brown-Chitanda wrote, “Thought that too until I found out the percent of Black students is 6%; even if all of them are filing, they would not be enough to impact the rating. Unfortunately, there was no critical thinking involved with this decision.”
Published: Sep 22, 2026 08:15 am