The chair of the board of Intergenerational Schools in Cleveland said Wednesday that the group of charter schools has removed the principal at Lakeshore Intergenerational School in Collinwood after a chaotic series of events this fall session.
The news came Wednesday evening during Intergenerational Schools鈥� board meeting, after teachers collectively called off Wednesday, causing the school to be closed. Parents showed up to the board meeting with signs expressing concern and solidarity with the teachers.
Lynn Carpenter, chair of the board of directors, said the board hears parents鈥� and teachers鈥� concerns, and said school leadership needs to do better. She said Beth Hampton, who had been hired on as Lakeshore Intergenerational School鈥檚 principal over the summer, is 鈥渘ot going to be the principal鈥� there any longer.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 get into details,鈥� she said. 鈥淪uffice it to say, the school was not going in the right direction.鈥�
Robyin Craig, a concerned parent of two students, said leadership at the school had been largely absent since school started this year.
Fights have broken out among students, with no accountability from administration and little communication to parents, even when students got hurt, she said. Teachers were also unable to control their classrooms, through no fault of their own, due to a lack of support from the administration, she said.
Plus, Craig said her children haven鈥檛 been learning much, partially due to a significant amount of staff turnover and new staff coming on-board who don鈥檛 have much training.
鈥淢y child鈥檚 not getting any work done, he鈥檚 not bringing any homework home,鈥� she said.
Brooke King, executive director of Intergenerational Schools, said during the meeting that Lakeshore Intergenerational is facing significant headwinds with staff recruitment.
鈥淲e are dealing with a national teacher shortage,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e dealing with many new staff that need a lot of training and that work continues.鈥�
During the board meeting, King shared slides showing that at the beginning of the school year, only 27% of teachers at Lakeshore Intergenerational returned from the 2021-2022 school year, a rate far lower than the other Intergenerational Schools in Cleveland.
Board Chair Carpenter apologized for the issues that parents, students and teachers face and said the school鈥檚 leadership will need to rebuild trust, which will take time.
鈥淲e know that we've lost your trust,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat's not going to change in one day or with the snap of a finger. We understand that. And the only way it's going to change is if we demonstrate different behavior and different communication.鈥�
Craig welcomed the board's communication with parents, and the move to remove Hampton.
鈥淚鈥檓 not against you,鈥� she told them during the meeting. 鈥淲e are not fighting each other. We are in this together and I am here to help.鈥�
King said in a statement sent to parents Wednesday that she will 鈥渟tep in temporarily鈥� as the school begins a search for an interim school leader, followed by a full search for a permanent principal.
