After reminding everyone of Monday’s school closure for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vacation, Henry opened up about how different his “one-time” family was from the one he had when he began serving as district manager 11 years ago — something that, as a small-town East Texas native, he never imagined for himself.

He has three adult children and welcomed seven grandchildren during that time, he said. Two grandchildren are half Hispanic and half Asian, two grandchildren are half Asian and half Caucasian, one grandchild is half Caucasian and African American, and one grandson, whom he calls his “prince”, belongs to the daughter of Henry, a member of the LGBTQ community.

“So I have a real modern family,” he told the audience Thursday night. “The point I’m trying to make is that 10 and a half years ago I never imagined my family would be like my family. But you know, my family turned out the way it was supposed to. to be. I have a bit of everything in my family and I love them all.”

He explained how diversity among teachers can help students through the lens of his biracial granddaughter.

“When she was in school, she saw someone who looked like her and made a difference in her life,” Henry said. “And so it makes a difference when kids see others who look like them. And my little prince, my 3-year-old son, who is a child of my daughter, he needs to see people who look like his moms. It is important .”

He said finding more diverse teachers can take new approaches.

“The way you create a diverse workforce, you’re going to see different places that you’ve never looked before. You go to Prairie View A&M;, you go to Texas Southern, you go to the Valley (of the Rio Great) You go to places where there are people who are the best and they can come back here and give us that diversity that we want and they can be the best like everyone else.

His remarks echoed a note posted on the Cy-Fair ISD website just an hour before Thursday’s board meeting.

The message said:

“CFISD is more committed than ever to continuing to recruit educators who reflect the demographics of our district. We now have leadership teams at the district and campus level that are more reflective of our community. This has opened up access to professionals from all backgrounds. Our minority educators have added great value to our district. Research tells us that the visibility of a diverse workforce helps all students succeed at higher levels.

Read the full letter here.

During a board meeting on Monday evening, Scott Henry explained why the district should not implement any of the suggestions made during a fairness audit. He also said administrators who implemented staff training dealing with “white privilege” should be fired and made various false claims about HISD.

“Cy-Fair has 13% black teachers,” Henry said at Monday’s meeting. “Do you know what the state average is for black teachers? Ten percent. I looked. Houston ISD you’re going to use that as a shining example, do you know what their average percentage of black teachers is “Thirty-six percent. You know what that dropout rate is? Four percent. I don’t want to be 4 percent. I don’t want to be HISD. I don’t want to be HISD.”

His remarks went viral and sparked an outcry among parents, local community members and local political leaders calling for him to step down.

The superintendent closed Thursday by joining the group of board administrators in apologizing for Scott Henry’s comments.

“Mr. (Tom) Jackson makes it very clear that the board is the political arm of the school district and the superintendent is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the district,” Henry said of the board chairman. “When one of the people I’m responsible for gets hurt, I get hurt. To our African-American employees: I’m sorry you were hurt over the past few days and I apologize that you were hurt. And I will do my best to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”