Parents bring concerns amid principal changes at Washington High to board members

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- The fight continues for parents against the South Bend School Corporation.

“I have 8 children. I need you to understand that none of them are white. I live in the Washington district. I need to think very carefully before you just take him out of there," said Wayne Hubbard Jr., a parent.

3 minutes is all the time parents and community members had to speak at tonight’s school board meeting.

They always have a chance to bring up concerns, but tonight only one took priority - the transfer of Washington High’s principal next school year.

“By taking a principal who’s standing alone on his own and turning that school around completely reducing the violence where it’s one of the, if not the safest high school in the area, and putting him in a whole different area is like taking a teacher out of a classroom and sticking a substitute teacher in that classroom," said Hubbard Jr.

Washington has already been missing a magnet coordinator and assistant principal since 2021.

During this time, parents argue sims has built up the school on his own, even doing it without the presence of an SRO.

“Why is it that the west side is always targeted? All these schools and now there’s devastation so what do we do, we make a decision to add Washington High School to that pile of devastation," said Cheryl Batteast, a former SBSC principal.

One after one board members listened to concerns alongside Superintendent Todd Cummings, but no one was able to comment on why the move was made.

Residents say they won’t let this go because sims earned the respect from his students at Washington and it’s something they want to see continue for years to come.

“They have a hero. Now you want to move him and put somebody else there. There are more heroes out here why would you displace him. I don’t understand that, that’s setting that school up for failure," said community member, Henry Davis Sr.

ABC57 reached out to Principal Sims to get his thoughts on the upcoming transfer, but he has not responded at this time.