Video from previous coverage.

CINCINNATI (INQUIRER) – Robert Burnside, a beloved suburban Cincinnati high school principal, resigned Friday after he was fired from his school district for helping a student who experienced homelessness, according to our partners at Cincinnati Enquirer.

His resignation comes three weeks after he was placed on leave pending an investigation. Records show the district investigated Burnside for allowing a former student experiencing homelessness to attend classes and eat in the school cafeteria.

“Please note that I am irrevocably resigning my position with the Lakota Local School District Board of Education for personal reasons,” Burnside wrote to Superintendent Ashley Whitely. His resignation is effective January 30.

“It has truly been an honor to have the opportunity to serve as principal of Lakota East High School, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity the Lakota Local School District has given me to lead in this capacity,” his letter states.

Burnside will remain principal of Lakota East High School through Jan. 30, but will not return to the school, his attorney said. The next two months of his service will be a combination of administrative leave, sick leave, and unpaid leave, for credit purposes to count toward his retirement.

Burnside was headmaster of Lakota East High School in Liberty Township, about 25 miles north of Cincinnati, since 2021. The district placed him on paid administrative leave on Nov. 1 and launched an investigation into “an issue,” Superintendent Whitely said in a message to district families.

That concern turned out to be Burnside’s involvement in helping a former Lakota student who was disenrolled in the district earlier this school year, The Enquirer found in records obtained through an Ohio Public Records Act request. District administrators grilled Burnside at a pre-disciplinary meeting Nov. 7 about his relationship with this student and why the student was allowed on school grounds when he was not enrolled.

Some of these questions included:

• “Where did he lay on his head at night?”
• “How did he come to the East every day?”
• “What would have happened if he had gotten into trouble? How would he have been disciplined if he wasn’t a student at our school?”
• “Was he ever injured? If so, how? Did you think about the responsibility for this since he was written off?”
• “Have you made arrangements with the cafeteria so that (the student) could have a lunch?” Did you use your own money for this?”

The news drew national attention, and several of Burnside’s former students spoke out in his defense online.

“Mr. Burnside is without a doubt the best principal I have ever had throughout schooling at Lakota,” commented one user The Enquirer’s Instagram post about history. “He was always cheerful and happy to see everyone and knew everyone by name. He kept many of us from leaving during covid and you can tell he has heart, passion and care for everything he does.”

Another user commented, “Mr. Burnside is the most compassionate, understanding and supportive school administrator I have ever had the pleasure of learning under. Lakota East and the Lakota Local School District are very blessed to have him, and every response on behalf of the school to he provides and cares for a student in need that is not unequivocal praise would be a grave injustice to not only an excellent principal, but also to all the children in the district who look up to the leaders of our society.”

Burnside said he is grateful for the support.

“I am extremely grateful for the outpouring of support I have received and I truly desire to take the lessons from this period in time and return to be an even better leader in the future,” Burnside wrote in a statement Friday. afternoon. “However, at this time, in the interest of my personal health, the well-being of my family, and to avoid creating division within the Lakota school community, I have made the decision to resign as principal of Lakota East High School and have tendered my resignation.”

What is the McKinney-Vento Act?

It is unclear how or why the student was disenrolled from Lakota Local Schools. But there are federal legal protections for students experiencing homelessness during McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, which ensures that students experiencing homelessness have access to a free and appropriate public education.

More than 24,000 students experienced homelessness in Ohio during the 2022-23 school year, according to Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.

During this lawschools cannot deregister students for experiencing homelessness. The law requires schools to have a local homeless education liaison to serve as a liaison for students experiencing homelessness and to automatically enroll students experiencing homelessness even if they don’t have the information — such as a permanent address — typically needed for enrollment .

Districts must keep these children in their home school unless the student’s parent, or the student, objects. Districts must also provide transportation for students experiencing homelessness, even if those students reside outside of district boundaries.

The questioner has requested information from Lakota Local Schools regarding this law, the district’s procedure for complying with it, and whether the district has a contact person for students experiencing homelessness. The school district has yet to respond as of Friday afternoon.

On Friday, the district sent an email to families:

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