A growing number of parents, teachers, and community leaders in Cy-Fair and across the greater Houston area are calling for the resignation of Cy-Fair ISD Trustee Scott Henry after Henry made racist remarks about Black teachers during a school board work session Monday. During the meeting, which was scheduled to discuss Cy-Fair ISDs equity audit, Henry insinuated that school dropout rates were correlated to the percentage of Black teachers in the district, saying: “Cy-Fair has what? 13% Black teachers? Houston ISD is 36%. Their dropout rate is 4%. I don’t want to be 4%. I don’t want to be HISD. I want to be a shining example. I want to be the district standard.”
The many voices calling on Henry to resign include Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, State Rep. Penny Morales, NAACP Houston Branch President Dr. James Dixon, and Harris County Democratic Party Chair Odus Evbagharu, among many others. Cy-Fair AFT President Nikki Cowart released a statement in which she called Henry’s remarks “ignorant and appalling” and insisted that Henry should resign immediately. Cy-Fair AFT teachers have been on the frontlines in the wake of Henry’s controversial remarks. Several members came out to protest against Henry at a Cy-Fair ISD school board meeting this Thursday.
After the meeting, Henry denied accusations of racism and claimed that his words were being twisted. Henry has a history of racially insensitive remarks. On Twitter this past summer, Henry tweeted, “Bring back the segregation we had in the 60s,” in response to a news report about vaccine passports. Henry was elected this past November and has no previous experience in elected office. He campaigned heavily against Critical Race Theory (CRT), which he claimed is sweeping the nation, even though there is no evidence of CRT being taught in Texas public schools. “He ran his campaign for trustee on the notion that we shouldn’t ever be talking about racism in schools. And yet, he’s happy to exemplify racist opinions from the dais of a school board meeting,” Cowart said in her statement.