HISD Eastwood Academy leaders abruptly reassigned, district hints safety concerns
HOUSTON - Three top leaders from Houston ISD's Eastwood Academy were abruptly reassigned from the high school on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the school’s website, there are approximately 400 students at Eastwood Academy, who are now without a principal, assistant principal, and counselor mid-school year.
Parents and students say they were not given any explanation and are now demanding more transparency from HISD.
"These are our kids, not theirs. This, in reality, is still my son, not HISD’s kids," said Linda Rodriguez.
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Rodriguez said she and her son, Joseph, who's a senior at Eastwood Academy found out the news after school on Tuesday. Parents and students were apparently sent an e-mail about the staff transitions but were not provided an explanation from HISD.
"They haven’t told us anything. They just left us in the dark and told us that they got reassigned. The reason they gave was to better educate the school, saying the three administrators weren’t good enough in their positions to help the school, even though we were top 6 in HISD," said Joseph Rodriguez.
Linda says she immediately requested an emergency meeting to discuss her son’s future, as Joseph was in the midst of applying for colleges.
"For them to do this in the middle of this time frame is the worst decision they could’ve made," Linda said.
"The counselor that was also let go, released or reassigned, she was helping students individually get through college applications. She knows these kids personally, she knows their dreams, knows what they were looking for. Now they could have someone else come in but is it going to be the same?" Linda continued.
In a statement, an HISD spokesperson said, "HISD takes student safety in our schools very seriously. The staff transitions at Eastwood Academy were made after an investigation into incidents at the campus. While we cannot comment further on the incidents or the investigation, we will notify the school community as soon as we have identified a new principal."
Eastwood Academy students tell FOX 26 they plan on staging a walk-out at the campus Thursday to protest the staff departures.