By: Leah O’Meara
The principals of both Westhill High School and Rogers International school have recently said that they were informed they may be transferred to different schools by Superintendent Tamu Lucero, who is set to leave her position at the end of the year. An instagram account was created in support of the Westhill and Stamford High principals, although Mr. Forker of Stamford High has since stated that his position is not currently threatened. This instagram account planned school-wide walkouts for both Stamford High and Westhill.
On March 24th, hundreds of students at Westhill participated in a walkout after their second period class in support of Principal Rinaldi. They walked from the high school to the Stamford Government Center downtown, which was about 3.6 miles, and it took about an hour and a half. According to the Stamford Advocate, Stamford Police estimated that there were between 600 and 1,000 students in the walkout, and about 200 students made it to the Government Center. The students marched down Long Ridge Road along with a police escort, with one group even carrying a cardboard cutout of the principal, as well as many holding signs. Traffic was held up on one side of the street, with a police car leading cars slowly down the road, as the group of students was so large. Routes to school that originally said 5 minutes increased to 15 minutes, and many cars were completely stopped for a few minutes. When the students got to the Bulls Head area, the group stopped for a few minutes before starting up again. After that, they continued their route to the Government Center, but a lot of students stayed at Bulls Head or went back to school. Around 200 students arrived at the Government Center, and they protested outside, chanting things like “Let him stay,” with many carrying signs with different phrases of support on them, all protesting against the removal of Mr. Rinaldi.
Justin Vargas (‘28) led the chants using a megaphone, while sitting inside a shopping cart. Leah Castillo (‘26) and Ari Zaritsky (‘27) also joined in on leading chants. The group formed a circle around Vargas, facing the building, as staff watched from inside. Stamford public schools sent buses to bring the students back to school, and the students who participated had to attend an assembly held by Principal Rinaldi, although many of them stayed there until the end of the day. There was a scheduled meeting at the Government Center tonight, but it has been cancelled due to safety concerns, as a rally is happening there tonight. Although the meeting is cancelled, the rally is still on.