HOUSTON — At Herod Elementary, the usual end-of-year excitement has been overshadowed by a potential loss.
“It is supposed to be a fun, celebratory time for these kids,” principal Jessica Berry said. “But there is a dark cloud above it, that the kids know about, and the kids bring up, [asking] why is my teacher not coming back, why are you not coming back.”
On Wednesday, students and parents at Herod protested Berry’s potential ouster and the termination of other staff members. Berry confirmed to KHOU 11 that Houston ISD presented her with a resignation agreement in early May that she has refused to accept. Almost two weeks later, the six-year HISD employee has still not been told what her fate will be.
"Up until I was walking into my office when they handed me that resignation request, I really thought I would be at Herod next year," she said. "But I still don't really know."
At an HISD board meeting Thursday night, district terminations and “compromise agreements” for principals at certain schools were discussed during a closed session. Herod and Valley West were among the only two schools specifically mentioned in the meeting agenda.
While the board ultimately decided to move forward with additional terminations, Berry said she did not receive an update Friday nor was she outright fired.
“The board made a decision last night, Mike Miles and the board made a decision and I still haven’t been informed what that decision was,” she said.
While she waits to learn more, Berry said that she’s more concerned for Herod’s future.
“If I could ask them anything, I would ask, 'How are you going to open this campus next year? There are only 43 teachers on this campus and there are 20 vacancies,'” she said. “Something has got to change.”
Berry is among dozens of district staff members who have been asked to resign in recent weeks. In a statement earlier this month, HISD said that all principal contract “non-renewals” are made "with the goal of ensuring every student receives high-quality instruction, every day.”
The district indicated that principals would be evaluated on their school’s performance metrics.
While Berry never received an explanation for her resignation request, she said that students at Heron exceeded HISD expectations for growth during mid-year testing. She also explained that she was "written up" for expressing concern about student privacy and IEPs shortly before she received the request to resign, but doesn’t understand why that would lead to her firing.