Unless you were living a rock last year, you’ll remember the lawsuit involving former DISD teacher Graciela McKay and Preston Hollow Elementary.
But in case you were that one person out of the loop, here’s a quick recap: The bilingual education teacher was working at the school under a contract. She claimed some Hispanic students were being unfairly segregated, prompting a few parents to file a lawsuit against the school. A federal judge ruled in the parents’ favor, citing a violation of the 14th Amendment.
McKay’s teaching contract was ultimately not renewed at Preston Hollow Elementary. The then-principal Teresa Parker attributes that to a poor performance on the job. McKay, on the other hand, claims she was let go only after being defamed through the segregation case–so she filed her own lawsuit against the district, and the Preston Hollow PTA.
Among those PTA parents named were Ana Crawnshaw, Meg Bittner (PTA president at the time), and Kaky Wakefield (secretary and vice president at the time, and now current PTA president). This week, however, McKay dismissed all three women from the lawsuit.
I just got off the phone with Kaky Wakefield, who says she’s actually known about the dismissal since before Christmas.
"This has been a long time coming, and I’m happy it has finally come," she says. "We’ve waited a year for this. The PTA has nothing to do with DISD employment contracts. I don’t think this should have ever been filed against us in the first place."
Wakefield says the Preston Hollow PTA also had to come out of pocket $2,000 to cover legal fees not covered by the group’s insurance.
"I’d also like to stress that she dropped this by her own regard. We didn’t cut any deal out of court with her or anything. We simply had to agree to walk away, which is fine with us."