A Support Team On the Way After Principal's Scuffle

An additional support team of administrators will be sent to the District's Eastern Senior High School following the arrest and reassignment of its principal, Shawn Hearn, parents were told yesterday.

Eastern parents were informed of the support team in a letter from Willie Lamb, the school's interim principal. He said the team would remain in place "as long as necessary to ensure that there will be no disruption in your child's instruction."

Hearn was reassigned to the central administration office pending completion of a school district investigation into a scuffle with a student that resulted in the principal's arrest, school officials said. Hearn and an 18-year-old student were charged with misdemeanor simple assault.

They were arrested after an altercation inside the school Monday. Aside from the internal investigation, school officials said they were waiting on a court decision regarding the incident. A Nov. 9 court date has been set with the U.S. attorney's office.

Hearn, 35, yesterday declined to comment on the incident.

Hearn was hired this fall to transform the troubled school into an academy modeled on the prestigious Boston Latin School, a magnate school that focuses on classical arts, language and literature.

William Wilhoyte, regional assistant superintendent, said the altercation was the first fight between a student and a principal in the eight years Wilhoyte has been with school system. Wilhoyte defended Hearn, saying he was "innocent until proven guilty."

Monday's incident wasn't the first involving Hearn in the two months he has been at Eastern. Wilhoyte said nearly two weeks ago that his office received a complaint from a parent who accused Hearn of using profanity with a student.

But Wilhoyte said the incident was not a sign of problems with Hearn. "There was nothing extraordinary or out of the way here," Wilhoyte said. "There were no flags popping."

Monday's incident occurred when Hearn tried to disperse a group of students watching two male 10th-graders fight over a girl. As Hearn tried to send students back to class, he grabbed one student. Another student then jumped on Hearn in defense of the student the principal grabbed, according to police reports and Wilhoyte. Investigators are trying to determine whether Hearn struck the student and, if so, whether it was in self-defense.

John Gibson, president of the school's Parent Teacher Association, said Hearn should be replaced. Gibson said Hearn frequently got into confrontations with faculty and had used profanity with some teachers. "He's a complete embarrassment," Gibson said.

Others praised Hearn's tough stance. "This man has been making a difference here," English teacher Pat Jones said. "He's a professional, and he demands that from his staff. It would be a grave injustice if he doesn't come back."

Several students said Hearn was tough, requiring the boys to remove their hats and yelling to clear the hallways. Hearn was the school's eighth principal since 1999.

"He's a good principal, but sometimes he was hard on us," senior Kandee Duffy, 17, said.

Staff writers Theola Labbé and V. Dion Haynes contributed to this report.