Interim Principal Isaiah Wyatt is one of four Black principals currently leading buildings in the Shaker Heights City Schools District.
Former SHHS Assistant Principal George Clark leads Lomond Elementary School, Roneisha Campbell heads Mercer and Dora Bechtel is Onaway principal.
The district will soon hire a principal for its eighth building, the Ludlow Early Learning Center, which is to open next school year.
Junior Za’Nyah Williams is excited about Wyatt’s arrival. “It’s exciting to see someone in that position being a Black person,” she said.
Including Shaker, there are seven Greater Cleveland Conference schools; three are led by Black principals, including SHHS. The others are Euclid High School and Cleveland Heights High School.
While more than half of the district’s current building leaders are Black, in recent years, the percentage of K-12 Black administrators nationally has declined from 18.4 percent to 9.5 percent, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Education.
Fifteen percent of public school students nationally and 47.8 percent of Shaker Heights High School students are Black.
Senior Chloe Harper said that having a Black principal builds “more diversity in our school. The school feels like a better community, and he might connect more with Black students who may struggle with identity, environment and mental health issues.”
Junior Korei Washington is happy to see Black representation. “I’m glad that we have a Black interim principal because I love to see Black representation, and I honestly hope to see Mr. Wyatt make a change within our school,” she said. “I hope he improves the school’s climate and safety and lessens the ban on electronic items,” Washington said.
While some students appreciate having a Black interim principal, other students and staff don’t see race as a priority with a new principal. “It doesn’t matter what gender or race our principal is; it matters about what they can do for us as students,” Williams said.
History teacher Joseph Konopinski just wants the principal to have a plan. “I want someone who has a plan to deal with students cutting class, students walking the halls, and somebody who values teacher planning time and after-school student conferences,” he said. “As long as the person we hire has a plan to deal with those things, it would make me happy.”
