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Students leave class to protest administrative changes within El Rancho Unified School Distict

By Mary Stringini, FOX 11
Published 
California
FOX 11 Los Angeles

PICO RIVERA, Calif. (FOX 11) - Parents of students in Pico Rivera staged a protest Monday morning over administrative changes being made within the El Rancho Unified School District.

The protest was held at 8 a.m. at Durfee Elementary School. Parents believe that the school district will be terminating or relocating their beloved school Principal, Sam Genis, as part of administration changes within the district. Protest organizers asked parents to bring their children to school but keep them out of the classroom to show support for Principal Genis. Protesters were also asked to wear the color red.

Last month, the school board voted to send pink slips to 23 district principals, assistant principals and other administrators. The pink slips informed the employees that the superintendent may fire or reassign them for the coming school year.

In a statement on Facebook, school district officials said that they are unable to discuss staffing changes within the district due to confidentiality.

"Reassignment of administrators is a common practice in education, and in this case fulfills identified needs at various school sites," the post reads. "The district is confident that these administrators will continue to positively impact El Rancho students in their new assignments and thanks them for their service and commitment."

The post went on to encourage parents to have their children attend school as regularly scheduled.

"Although we understand that some might naturally be disappointed upon learning of these changes, we urge our parents, teachers and staff to not let those feelings negatively impact our students' daily learning," the post reads.

The details of the district's reassignment plan remains unclear. According to the district's statement, they will reach out to the community at each affected school in the coming days to outline how they will recruit and evaluate new school leaders. They will also seek community input on the changes.