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Fort Worth ISD named a new interim principal at Western Hills High School last week. The educator who was originally slated to fill the role is suing the district in federal court.
On July 8, FWISD announced that Lucio Rodriquez had been tapped to serve as the interim principal at Western Hills High School. The move comes less than two months after another educator, Shayma Alzubi, was reassigned from her planned promotion to the role after social media backlash.
Alzubi, who is Muslim and previously served as assistant principal at Southwest High School, was announced as the new principal of Western Hills in May. In a FWISD announcement post, Alzubi was pictured wearing a hijab. Right-wing social media backlash ensued, with some of the administrator’s past posts featuring the Palestinian flag and pro-immigrant sentiments coming to light. Shortly after, Fort Worth ISD announced that Alzubi was being reassigned pending an investigation into an alleged violation of the district’s social media policy.
She has filed a federal lawsuit against FWISD in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. In a July 9 filing, Alzubi’s lawyers allege that the district violated her First Amendment rights and also failed to abide by the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. Her legal team is seeking her immediate reinstatement and damages from the district.
The case has drawn statewide attention. Shortly after Alzubi was reassigned, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appeared on Fox News and supported the decision. Abbott has used increasingly volatile rhetoric against Muslim organizations and advocated for a ban on “sharia cities” as the state targets the East Plano Islamic Center’s planned Collin County development.
“The education agency made it very clear that behavior like this, comments like this, a misalignment with Texas values, as well as Texas law, are unacceptable, and people like this cannot be a principal,” Abbott said on air.
‘Singled her out’
According to the Fort Worth ISD employee handbook, if an employee’s “use of electronic media interfere with the employee’s ability to effectively perform his or her job duties, the employee is subject to disciplinary action.” Alzubi’s lawyers argue that the policy was used against her in retaliation for constitutionally protected free speech activities outside school hours.
The filing cites the influence of online influencers, rather than the reported violation of district policy, as the chief motivation for her reassignment. Alzubi’s lawyers are asking District Judge Mark Pittman for a jury trial.
“When Defendant lent legitimacy to online trolls attacking Plaintiff by publicly reevaluating its decision to appoint her as Principal and disclosing that she had been temporarily reassigned to a different position for the foreseeable future, Defendant’s actions significantly disrupted Plaintiff’s career trajectory while also causing irreversible reputational harm to her,” the filing reads.
According to the July filing, Alzubi was questioned by district officials on June 17. She was asked about several social media posts that had been circulated on conservative social media circles. One, a photocollage reposted by right-wing Fort Worth activist Carlos Turcios, shows past posts of Alzubi supporting DACA recipients and clarifying what sharia law means for Muslims amidst rampant fears of a “Muslim takeover” in Texas. The district had not received complaints about her social media history prior to May 31, according to the filing.
The district is currently under the control of a state-appointed board of directors after TEA Director Mike Morath initiated a state takeover in October 2025. In a statement, a spokesperson for FWISD said: “Fort Worth ISD remains committed to fostering a culture of trust, transparency, and respect for all employees, students, and families.”
“As part of the district’s established processes, Fort Worth ISD conducted a thorough review of matters that had been raised publicly,” the statement reads. “The district considers personnel matters confidential and will not discuss specific findings or individual employment matters beyond what is appropriate under state and federal law. However, we can confirm that Ms. Alzubi remains a valued member of the Fort Worth ISD leadership team and will continue serving students, educators, and families in an expanded district-level capacity.”
The district spokesperson said the educator has since been promoted to the districtwide position of principal program administrator. However, Alzubi recently told the Fort Worth Report that she wants to be reinstated and had rejected a promotion to a districtwide position, which was reported to pay $130,000 annually.
Another FWISD educator, Ernie Moran, was placed under investigation in June after Turcios and other media influencers who had targeted Alzubi uncovered past social media activity and activism in support of Bernie Sanders.
Alzubi is supported in the filing by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which Abbott controversially declared a terrorist organization in 2025. She is being represented by Lena Masri, an attorney with CAIR’s national office, and Fort Worth lawyer Jason Smith locally. In the filing, Alzubi’s lawyers allege that she has been “replaced.”
The filing also alleges that Alzubi was discriminated against for her Muslim religious beliefs and Palestinian heritage. In the filing text, her attorneys allege that Alzubi was “singled out for views she had expressed on her personal social media that were similar to those of her colleagues.”
“I wish I could say this happened in a vacuum, but it didn’t,” CAIR-DFW Executive Director Mustafaa Carroll told reporters at a press conference in May. “In recent months, Texas Muslims have been targeted by a vicious campaign of hate by some political leaders in the state.”
