Lincoln Park High School students protest outside CPS HQ after 2 admins fired

Leah Hope Image
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Lincoln Park HS students protest outside CPS HQ after 2 admins fired
Students and parents demanded answers for a second day after two school leaders were fired from Lincoln Park High School.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Students and parents demanded answers for a second day after two school leaders were fired from Lincoln Park High School over allegations of misconduct. Chicago Public Schools have not released details, and will only say the allegations are very serious and some involve allegations of sexual misconduct.

RELATED: Lincoln Park High School community demands answers after basketball suspended, principal removed for misconduct allegations

Students and parents at Lincoln Park High School are outraged after the school's principal and assistant principal were removed over misconduct allegations involving the basketball team.

Students attended classes as scheduled on Tuesday, for the most part. But during 8th period, a group of students cut class to protest the firings.

"Nothing got done. They didn't tell us anything. We still don't know what happened. We still don't know why we don't have a principal. We still don't know why our dean's fired. We don't know anything essentially," junior Estrella Sutton said.

"A lot of people are conflicted, they don't understand what's happening. And personally I think that we're not really informed, everyone is misinformed," junior Lillyth Douglas said.

"I completely understand that allegations were made and CPS has to do a job, but I think the way they went about it is completely unprofessional," junior Alex Davis said.

The students protested in front of CPS headquarters Wednesday afternoon.

RELATED: At Lincoln Park High School meeting, CPS officials say 4 misconduct investigations ongoing

CPS officials revealed at a meeting Monday night they are conducting four separate investigations into misconduct allegations at Lincoln Park High School.

On Monday night, many students and parents attended a meeting at the school, where CPS administrators explained four investigations of misconduct by students and staff led to the actions.

"My first priority is to protect the students who are victims in this case, and there are students who have been emotionally harmed as well as physically harmed, and that's always going to be my primary focus," CPS CEO Janice Jackson said.

Jackson spoke to ABC7 at another school's event on Wednesday.

"If this was a situation where it's just one individual, one person, this would be handled in an entirely different way," Jackson said. "We really have to wrap our arms around this and do everything that's appropriate in protecting victims first," she added.

Jackson said that due to the nature of the allegations, there likely won't be any more details given about the investigations. She said if there are more actions taken, those individuals will likely be informed directly.