Humble ISD Probes Superintendent's 'Lynch the Mayor' Remark at Staff Meeting

Humble Independent School District is investigating a remark by its newly appointed superintendent, Roger Brown, who said he wanted to "lynch the mayor" during a staff meeting about two weeks ago. Brown apologized for the comment at the district's board meeting on Tuesday.

The matter was raised during the public comment portion of the meeting by Henry Phipps, the district's chief education support service officer. Phipps said he was among more than 100 employees at the gathering, a leadership team meeting attended by 125 to 150 campus-based administrators. According to Phipps, the speaker used a microphone to say he was so upset about losing power at home during a hurricane that he wanted to lynch the mayor, then added, "I wanted to take him out back and hang him from a tree."

Phipps at first described the speaker only as a "cabinet-level administrator," but he ultimately identified Brown. "So why am I saying something?" Phipps said. "Because apparently, Dr. Brown's comments only offended me."

Brown spoke about the episode for several minutes after the public comment period. He did not deny the remarks but said he never meant to offend anyone. He said Phipps approached him after the meeting to report that some staff members had raised concerns, which surprised him. Brown said he then phoned Phipps, told him he felt sick about the situation and asked to meet those who had reached out. That afternoon, he said, he met Phipps and six other staff members and apologized.

Brown explained that he had closed the leadership meeting by showing a photograph of settlers in the western United States. He said he had been reading a book about the hardships pioneers faced, which reminded him of the difficulties of daily life. He said he asked the group whether they remembered how, after Hurricane Beryl struck last summer, they had wanted to lynch CenterPoint and the mayor. He said the reference was to going days without power and air conditioning, and that he then pointed to the photograph and said the settlers never had such comforts before commenting on how blessed everyone is.

Brown said the remark was not meant literally. "No one, including myself, was actually wanting to harm CenterPoint or (Houston) Mayor (John) Whitmire or (Humble) Mayor (Norman) Funderburk," he said. "My point was simply that as human beings, we can get upset about things, but in the big picture, we're really fortunate today."

Board president Chris Parker said at Tuesday's meeting that the matter remains under investigation. She said she directed the board's legal counsel to make sure it was handled according to policy right after the initial complaint was received.

Brown was hired as superintendent in January and leads a district of nearly 50,000 students northeast of Houston. His hiring came two months after the school board voted to uphold the firing of his predecessor, Elizabeth Fagen. Her dismissal followed a Title IX investigation involving her husband, Troy Kite, the district's former athletics director, who retired in April 2024 while the board was weighing whether to fire him over allegations of creating a hostile workplace environment.