Dallas Superintendent Overrides Board, Fires 3 Principals

DALLAS (AP) — The superintendent of the Dallas school district has fired three principals despite a school board vote to keep them.

The principals are Anna Brining of the Rosemont elementary and middle schools, Joy Morris of Wilmer-Hutchinson Elementary School and Dinnah Escanilla of North Dallas High School, The Dallas Morning News (http://bit.ly/1FOKWH5 ) reported.

An attorney who represents all three principals said two will appeal the decision and that that the other didn’t want him to speak publicly about her job.

Superintendent Mike Miles declined to comment on his decision, which a district spokesman said was a personnel matter. School board members were told Monday that the choice to fire the principals was based on professional leadership concerns.

Escanilla defended her job performance during her nearly two decades with the district.

“I was a teacher, instructional specialist, and assistant principal,” she said in an email Monday. “North Dallas was my first assignment as a principal.”

She added that academic performance has improved under her leadership at the school.

Board member Lew Blackburn, who has been on it since 2001, said he couldn’t recall another instance when a superintendent overruled the board in a similar situation. The board had voted 5-4 to keep the principals when the superintendent asked them to “nonrenew” the principals’ contract.

“Right now, it kind of looks like we’re at odds with each other, and I think it should not be that way,” Blackburn said.

The superintendent has the authority to hire and fire employees without board approval.

The Dallas school district is the state’s second largest district, with around 160,000 students.