MILWAUKEE — On Monday morning, Chris Jackson says he received an urgent message from his daughter's school, Catholic East Elementary.
The message read: "Without your or the school's permission, your child left their classroom today. You must pick up your child, who is currently outdoors, as soon as possible due to the fact that they have left the classroom. They refused to come back in the building; therefore staff is currently outside waiting for parent pick up."
"I never had no issues with my daughter at school, behavior issues or anything," Jackson said about the panic he felt after receiving the message. "So in my head, I'm preparing for the worst. I'm like let me calm down, let me not speed, let me take my time getting there."
But what he found when he arrived at his daughter's school was far from what he imagined. He saw his daughter, Brooklyn, on the front lawn with many of her classmates protesting.
After speaking to his daughters, teachers, and some other parents who had shown up, Jackson learned the students were protesting their principal, Timothy Trzcinko, being removed from his position.
Jackson called it a "proud dad moment."
"Honestly I'm proud because my daughter is super soft-spoken and to see not only her, but all her peers out here with a voice standing behind what they believe in is amazing to me," Jackson said.
His daughter, 4th grader Brooklyn, said, "I feel like I have to fight for my principal and my school."
So why was Trzcinko removed as principal? Students and parents said they didn't know and were given very little communication about it all.
Mom Tamara Pacada was at the school during the walkout. She said their first notice about Trzcinko came on May 11.
"We've received two emails that just said he's on leave until further notice and there's no information," Pacada said.
Her 6th-grade child Eli said, "We weren't told a lot about why he left."
Catholic East Elementary has students in K-3 through 8th grades and is part of Seton Catholic Schools.
Seton Catholic Schools provided TMJ4 news with the following statement via email:
"The departure of Mr. Timothy Trzcinko as principal of Catholic East Elementary is related to a personnel matter. All personnel matters are confidential, so no further information can be shared. We have processes and procedures that are followed in these types of situations and those rules are being adhered to. We have assured our families that all decisions being made follow or values as a Catholic school and are made with the best interest of the students, staff and school community in mind."
In follow-up emails, it was confirmed that Trzcinko is no longer employed with Seton. It was also confirmed that it is not related to a criminal investigation and that no students were harmed.
Parents said they felt like they were left in the dark.
"Who's the leader of our school? What are the policies? What is the reason that he isn't leading our school anymore? What can we expect from Seton in leading this school?" Pacada asked.
It's evident that many students at the school miss their principal.
"That's the reason I'm here right now, because of Mr. T," said 4th grader Enias Cole. "He's a great guy, I really want him back. I've got a little emotion in my voice because I really want him back. He's really been there when I needed him."
Brooklyn said, "He would treat us like his kids."
What is clear, is that the young students at Catholic East could give their own lesson in civic engagement.
"Sometimes we might act little, but we still have a voice," Brooklyn said.
Jackson said, "We know that they're smaller and their voices are a little smaller, but they do still have a voice and we do gotta respect how they feel and what they say and what they believe in."
In a phone conversation with TMJ4, Trzcinko said he himself was unsure of his employment status and that other than being indefinitely suspended by Seton on May 11, he hadn't received any other communication about his employment status.
We informed Trzcinko that Seton told TMJ4 that he was no longer employed by the school. Trzcinko said that was the first he had heard that.
Less than an hour after that phone call, Trzcinko told TMJ4 that he had finally received word from Seton about his no longer being employed.
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