Reassigned Frisco High Principal Applauded At Graduation
COLLIN COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM ) - A student movement to save a beloved principal's job took a recess Friday night if only for a couple of hours.
Frisco High School's class of 2015 celebrated graduation just days after a massive protest over the reassignment of Principal Sylvia Palacios.
"I feel that a grave injustice is taking place, and we will be there for her 100 percent," said Char Wies, a student's mother.
School officials including Palacios discouraged students from disturbing the ceremony with any reference to the controversy surrounding her removal.
CBS 11 News didn't see any specific mention of the issue, but it remained close to the hearts of many protesters and their families.
"She doesn't have her job back, and I think that until we have justice, our job isn't done," said valedictorian James Hwang in his address to the graduating class. "Let your voice be heard. Stand up. Speak up for justice. Refuse to let others censor you."
Principal Palacios received a standing ovation when she addressed students, but graduating seniors held back from the kind of demonstration held earlier in the week when hundreds of protesters walked out of class demanding she keep her job. Nevertheless, the controversy was never far for many.
Palacios is waiting for a response to her formal grievance that asks to remain at Frisco High School as principal. She's hoping to appeal to the entire Board of Trustees, and many students and parents vow to continue to support her long after graduation.
"There's a fight to be finished here, and I think we now have the upper hand, or we made a lot of progress, and I think that it's definitely not right to just stop here," said Hwang.
(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)