Houston mom says she was fired after confronting HISD Superintendent at airport

A Houston mother says she lost her job as a United Airlines flight attendant after confronting Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles at an airport earlier this year and now, she’s accusing district leadership of retaliation.

Virginia “Ginny” McDavid, a longtime HISD parent, says she approached Miles and Deputy Chief of Staff Nicola Esch in the spring while the two were traveling.

In a conversation she recorded, but that KPRC 2 is not airing due to company policy, McDavid criticized the superintendent’s leadership and what she called the dismantling of Houston’s public schools.

“I introduced myself as an HISD parent and taxpayer,” McDavid told KPRC 2. “I was off duty, not in uniform, and never identified myself as a United employee. This had everything to do with me exercising my rights as a citizen.”

McDavid says the confrontation lasted about two minutes and was not physical. But she claims that just days later, an HISD administrator used a district email account to file a complaint with her employer, United Airlines. Weeks later, she was terminated.

In a statement to KPRC 2, an HISD spokesperson confirmed the incident:

“While traveling on United Airlines and waiting for his flight in a United lounge, Superintendent Miles was verbally accosted by a United Airlines employee who used vulgar and aggressive language, which she later posted to social media and shared with the press,” the spokesperson said. “Any personnel decision made by United Airlines regarding the conduct of its employees is a matter between United Airlines and that employee.”

McDavid disputes the district’s account, saying her remarks were passionate but not aggressive, and that she had every right to express concern to a public official.

Because McDavid wasn’t on duty or in uniform, her union is now helping her appeal the firing. She says she hopes to get her job back and to warn others who may face similar consequences for speaking out.

“This was about HISD leadership silencing criticism,” she said at last week’s school board meeting. “If it can happen to me, it can happen to any parent.”

McDavid says she is continuing to request public records from the district to further investigate what role HISD played in her termination.

United Airlines said they had no comment.