Despite pleas from at least 40 parents, Schools Supt. Manford Byrd Jr. recommended Wednesday that the embattled principal of Bowen High School not be dismissed because ”evidence does not warrant it.”
Byrd instead recommended that a crisis intervention team be set up at the school at 2710 E. 89th St. to help ease tensions among staff, students and parents. He also recommended that the school hold a new local school council election to end a fight over the legitimacy of the present council.
Most of his recommendations do not require approval by the Chicago Board of Education. The removal of the principal, however, would require a vote by board members. The members did not vote on the matter Wednesday.
”We need to bring in some outside agencies,” Byrd said. ”Here`s a school that is 51 percent black and 49 percent Hispanic. What you need to do is try and spend some time to find a common ground to bring those factions together.”
The 40 who spoke were among about 75 mostly Hispanic parents who packed a Chicago Board of Education meeting Wednesday and again demanded the removal of principal James Ahern.
The parents have charged that during the 10 years that Ahern has been principal, test scores have dropped or not improved, the dropout rate remains high, and gang activity has ”gone rampant.”
They also criticized a report by Byrd that refuted charges that test scores had not improved and other issues. The parents said they planned to take their fight to the State Board of Education.
”We are not satisified yet,” said Dinah Miralez, a member of Bowen`s Local School Improvement Council. ”We are determined to continue this fight, no matter how long it takes.”
