Letter to the HEB ISD Community - March 28, 2025

To Our Entire HEB ISD Community,

Earlier this week, a fight occurred at Harwood Junior High, and video clips of a portion of the fight are now circulating online. The video and the depicted events have left us all shocked and saddened. Fighting is completely unacceptable behavior. Every aspect of the incident is being thoroughly investigated, and strong, proportionate consequences have already been delivered.

Understandably, our community is asking serious questions about safety. I want to say plainly and without reservation: safety is our highest priority, and this sequence of events is unacceptable. As a continuous improvement district, HEB ISD will always face up to the honest reality: if the processes that are currently in place in HEB ISD schools did not prevent this from occurring, then we must examine and be prepared to change the processes and conditions that allowed these events to unfold. The District has begun the creation of a task force examining all aspects of preventing and responding to inappropriate student behavior. This team will be empowered to present actionable recommendations to the HEB ISD Board of Trustees. We will share additional details early next week on how you can be a part of this task force.

As a father, and as an educator with 39 years of experience, the magnitude of this event is not lost on me. We cannot ignore that this incident exists within a broader context – a shift has occurred in the behavior observed in schools across our District, our state, and our nation. We will not stand by idly as this shift continues.

Please know we have heard you, we are listening, we are HEB ISD, and we will do better.

Dr. Joe Harrington
HEB ISD Superintendent of Schools