In April 2015 an HISD spokesperson stated that the district was investigating an incident where a substitute teacher was asked to pass all of his/her students with grades of 80 or above. An HISD report stated that Catchings was responsible for the order, and the district reassigned him while the district's director of high schools, Justin Fuentes, temporarily took Catchings's position. The HISD board fired Catchings, who planned to file an appeal. Catchings was replaced by Susan Monaghan, who had been the principal of Pin Oak Middle School.