Eagle Rock Elementary Principal to Retain Her Post

The principal of Eagle Rock Elementary School, threatened in recent weeks with reassignment because of budget cuts, will be allowed to remain at her post, Los Angeles Unified School District officials said this week.

Sheila Watson was told in June that she would be reassigned as an assistant principal elsewhere and be replaced by a district administrator who was being demoted to save money.

But the Board of Education decided Thursday to allow Watson and at least a dozen other principals to remain in their positions, said Willie Crittendon, the district’s director of employee relations.

The news was welcomed by Eagle Rock parents and teachers, who last month held a rally and letter-writing campaign protesting the proposed reassignment. They said even though Watson had been principal only since January, she had provided the leadership and stability needed by the school, now undergoing construction and preparing to go year-round in the fall.

“I think it’s excellent and a wise decision by the board,” said Lucy Cole, a parent. “If the school is undergoing a lot of change, shifting the principals doesn’t do a lot for the stability of the kids.”

The bumping process, based mostly on seniority, had been proposed as part of massive budget cuts. Six principals were allowed to remain at their posts because their schools are entering school-based management, under which most decisions are made by groups at the school instead of by district headquarters, Crittendon said.

The rest, including Watson, kept their posts partly because retirements and sabbaticals by principals at other schools opened slots for higher-level administrators who were bumped, he said. Support by parents and teachers also played a role in helping Watson remain as principal, said Ernie Delgado, a spokesman for Board of Education member Leticia Quezada, whose district includes Eagle Rock.