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Clear Creek Independent School District Superintendent Eric Williams speaks after learning his retirement terms during a special school board meeting in League City, Texas, on July 11, 2022.
Leslie Plaza Johnson/Contributor
Clear Creek ISD Superintendent Eric Williams announced his resignation at a Monday night board meeting.
Williams, who had been accused by conservative parents of “indoctrinating” students with “anti-white” sentiment, said he is resigning from his position to help care for an ill family member in Virginia. According to a voluntary retirement agreement signed by Williams and the board president, Williams is taking a board-approved leave of absence July 12 through July 31. He then will leave the post to become superintendent emeritus on Aug. 1, to serve as an adviser to his replacement. His retirement becomes effective Jan. 31.
According to the agreement, Williams will be paid $199,000 in severance, which represents five and a half months of salary and benefits under his contract. The district also will fund any existing supplemental retirement plans, the agreement reads.
Williams’ yearly salary to lead the district of around 40,000 students was $306,000, plus $48,000 in incentives.
After a brief closed session, the board unanimously voted to accept Williams’ retirement agreement. The board unanimously voted to appoint Karen Engle interim superintendent effective Jan. 31. Engle retired from the district as superintendent in 2020.
“I am deeply grateful to all CCISD staff all they do day in and day out,” Williams said Monday. “I wish all the best to the district in its work to sustain and build on its excellence.”
The retirement agreement directs all district staff and board members to refer third-party inquiries about Williams’ departure to the contract and a prepared press release.
“Dr. Williams built on our previous efforts with personalized learning,” Jay Cunningham, board president, said in the press release. “...He engaged staff members in taking steps now to address financial challenges relating to declining state revenue.”
The agreement includes a letter of reference for the superintendent.
“Dr. Williams demonstrated an instructionally-focused mindset,” reads the letter of recommendation signed by Cunningham.
In December, Williams told the Chronicle he was setting down roots in the Clear Creek community and planned to stay in the district for the “long haul.” He said he chose to move from a district with more than 83,000 students to one about half the size to be closer to family.
Williams, who began his position in the district in February 2021, was followed by accusations of “indoctrinating” students with “anti-white” sentiment from his previous job in Virginia. While serving as superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools in northern Virginia, Williams and the large, affluent district became a flashpoint of right-wing activism over so-called “critical race theory.”
Despite district attempts to make clear to parents that critical race theory is not taught within Clear Creek ISD, a group of parents in December called for Williams’ resignation, taking issue with a program called “Character Strong,” which is designed to teach children social and emotional learning, according to the district, and was implemented before Williams worked in the school system.
The Texas Education Code requires districts to teach social emotional learning lessons that foster traits such as caring, empathy, freedom from prejudice and fairness.
“Our focus is not critical race theory,” Williams said to the crowd during a December board meeting. “It’s not in our curriculum or in our instructional resources.”
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The same vocal group of parents scrutinized Williams and the district over his hire, submitting a handful of Freedom of Information Act requests for his emails, documents related to his hiring and information regarding the cost of the Character Strong program, which was implemented before Williams came to work for the district.
Teachers, staff and board members have publicly defended Williams, saying he has made a positive impact on the district with a focus on student achievement and growth.
Cunningham said the district is grateful to Williams for the work he did to balance the budget and proposed changes that were unanimously approved by the board.
hannah.dellinger@chron.com
