The district told ABC13 that principal Dr. Ana Aguilar was removed from Eastwood Academy, and "several additional staff transitions" were also made at the top-ranked high school.
ABC13 started asking questions after hearing from parents and students who said the principal, vice principal, and school counselor were all removed on Monday. HISD only confirms the principal by name. At first, HISD said this was a personnel issue, but in an updated statement, the district said this was the result of an investigation into several incidents and that they cared about student safety.
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Students and parents said they aren't aware of any incidents and feel unheard through all of this.
Here is their story, straight from them.
"I received an automated phone call," the parent to an Eastwood senior, Miranda Gonzalez, said.
"It turned out the principal for sure with a handful of other employees," parent to an Eastwood sophomore, Monica Hadley, said.
"When it comes to our futures, we are owned some sort of answers," Eastwood senior, Joaquin Garcia said.
"I'm very upset. I'm very mad. My son is a senior here, and unfortunately, they are doing this at the beginning where kids are right in the middle of doing college applications," the parent to an Eastwood senior, Rosalinda Rodriguez, said.
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"This disrupts our children's learning for sure. We haven't even completed this first semester. I heard the guidance counselor was let go. She was right in the middle of getting these kids lined up for college, helping them network with their applications. I can't imagine what those students feel like," Hadley said.
"Now we're left gone, with no nothing, no help. We have to figure this out by ourselves," Garcia said.
"We were completely blindsided," Hadley said.
"There is no reason for any changes to be happening at our school at this moment. Everything works well, the students are well-behaved, and grades are awesome," Gonzalez said.
"Unfortunately, it seems as though it might be the politics. It's so sad that politics play a part in our student's lives," Hadley said.
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"All three of them were good faculty members. Our little school is in the top six in HISD, so I feel HISD shouldn't have said to better it. They should have just said originally if it was because of an incident," Garcia said.
"If it's my safety, I feel like I have the right to know what happened, what's this incident they're talking about," Joseph said.
"I don't think they are listening to parents. I don't think they are listening to students, and I don't understand. I think people would be on board with the changes HISD is doing, but we need communication," Gonzales said.
"If these kids are trying to reach out and demand answers, that means that they understood they had great leadership. They understood they were doing very well on their own," Rosalinda said.
HISD told ABC13 that due to an investigation, the district couldn't say more about the possible incidents and what the concern for student safety was.
The district also didn't share a timeline of when new school leadership would be in place. Every parent and student ABC13 spoke with said they want the old administration back.
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