A Statement on Behalf of SWWHS and SWWFS HSAs and LSATs

October 7, 2020

The School Without Walls High School and School Without Walls at Francis Stevens Education Campus Home and School Associations (HSAs) and Local School Advisory Teams (LSATs) call for an immediate reinstatement of Richard Trogisch as Principal of our respective schools. 

We are shocked at the sudden announcement of Principal Trogisch’s removal and shattered by the callousness of this action at a time when our school communities (along with ALL communities) are facing personal, local, national, and global crises.  

Despite the imperfect nature of distance learning, Principal Trogisch’s tireless efforts have ensured that our schools offer stability, continuity, and support for social and emotional health for our students, our families, and our educator community. Principal Trogisch’s dismissal at this moment is extraordinarily damaging to our community and our student’s learning -- from the fundamentals of school operations to execution of new racial equity programming.  Our students and faculty need his steady and experienced leadership, not this disruption.

Principal Trogisch’s performance over many years has been transformational for our schools, enabling them to achieve true educational excellence.  Just last month, School Without Walls High School again was recognized among the best public and magnet schools in the entire country.  There is no justification for his dismissal based on outcomes.  Rather we believe that his insistence on transparency and advocacy on behalf of our students and their educators has cost him his position.  

While he has fought for our schools before on many issues, we suspect this action is in retaliation for Principal Trogisch raising legitimate questions about school reopening on behalf of our children and their teachers. While Principal Trogisch has articulated to our community his wish to open schools for in-person instruction, he also has been very transparent reflecting concerns about health and safety, openly scrutinizing how DCPS and DGS are approaching implementation of needed protocols and addressing facilities conditions. 

This DCPS action to remove Principal Trogisch is unwarranted and unacceptable to our school community . We reiterate our call for his immediate reinstatement, and we will pursue every avenue to ensure that he returns to continue leading our schools.