BACK OF THE YARDS — Parents pulled students out of their classrooms Tuesday at Hedges Elementary to protest the resignation of Principal Adelfio Garcia.
They say he was forced to step down.
“I want my principal back,” said 11-year-old Jocelyn Roman. “He would go to our class and sit with us, and help us with our work. Sometimes we’d talk to him if we had a problem.”
Roman and other parents said they weren’t getting answers so they tried to crash a meeting Tuesday morning where Chicago Public Schools Network Chief Luis Soria met with faculty. When that failed they gathered outside the school with signs and chanted “We want Mr. Garcia. Where is Mr. Garcia?”
Some marched to a first-floor window, pressing their signs against it while still chanting. Soria was inside the room. Two police officers were on site to ensure the protest remained peaceful.
The group of about 60 people were joined by Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) at the school, 4747 S. Winchester Ave.
“We feel that CPS unjustly pressured him to leave this school,” Lopez said. “Mr. Garcia was very much about keeping parents together in the process; and just keeping them informed. They want him back. I want him back. He’s great for the community.”
Lopez said he met with several current and former principals in his ward. In a letter addressed to CPS CEO Forrest Claypool, Lopez said many people are upset with Soria.
“Mr. Soria attempted to micromanage buildings, routinely overstepping his authority on personnel matters, particularly matters of staff hiring, determining job qualifications, etc.” the letter read.
“Mr. Soria resorts to unprofessional conduct, participating & fostering venues of gossip and intra-building espionage.”
He is requesting that CPS review the matter.
Garcia for 10 years had been principal at the neighborhood school, which earned a Level 2 ranking by CPS this year — actually the fourth lowest of five CPS ratings. He was given “unobtainable goals” by Soria, Lopez said. They needed to be met in a four-month time span.
Some of those goals included getting at least 25 percent parental participation for every school event. Lopez said Garcia was pressured two months before his goal deadline to just give up.
CPS wouldn’t comment on the goals, but CPS spokeswoman Emily Bittner said that Garcia’s resignation was effective on Friday.
“CPS will work with the LSC, parents and the community as the school transitions and in conducting a search to identify new leadership,” she said in an email.
“Christine Arroyo, a retired principal with 14 years of experience as a principal, will serve as the interim principal while the school community looks for a replacement.”
The school’s local school council president, Elva Arreola, said the resignation should not stand.
“We want Mr. Garcia back. Our kids need that principal because he’s the best principal for them,” she said through an interpreter Tuesday.
Arreola has three children, one in seventh grade, one in fourth grade and another in pre-kindergarten.
She said Garcia was great with the students and parents.
“He’s bilingual so he can communicate with the parents, which is important because this is a community where almost everybody speaks Spanish,” Arreola said.
Parent Jessica Cruz graduated from Hedges and now has a son in the first grade.
“He’s a great principal,” she said. “He’s the principal who stays after school to take care of kids, he doesn't let students come out because he’s about safety. He’s even helping parents learn English.”
Many of the parents gathered as early as 7:30 a.m. demanding that Soria come outside and speak to them. Around 11:30 a.m. a school employee came out and said three parents could come inside. Arreola, Roman and a third parent went in for about an hour. When they came back they said Soria told them they could meet the new principal Monday.
They said they were "disappointed" with the outcome of the impromptu meeting and still want Garcia.
Arreola said they won’t give up “until they bring Garcia back.”
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