In May, Elgin Card — Lakota’s first African American high school principal — announced he was leaving his senior director’s position he had held since 2020 for the Lakota Outreach, Diversity and Inclusion (LODI) office.
Card, who previously was a long-time principal at Lakota West High School, is now the superintendent of Princeton Schools in northern Hamilton County.
Lolli told school families earlier this week that teacher shortages going into the new school year forced the district to transfer an employee from the LODI office to fill a classroom vacancy.
The LODI program, however, remains a priority for Lakota, said Lolli.
“We have learned that misinformation has been circulating on social media regarding our work surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion. I’d like to set the record straight,” she wrote.
“We are a very diverse school district and ensuring that we are meeting the needs of ALL of our students cannot and will not stop.”
“Recently, the senior director of diversity and inclusion left Lakota to become Superintendent of Princeton City Schools. Since much of his time was spent fulfilling the duties of Lakota ombudsman, that position was filled in July,” said Lolli.
“With school starting in less than a week, and a teacher shortage hampering our efforts to fill positions, we made the decision to move a teacher who has been on special assignment in our LODI department into this new classroom. No ultimatum was given to this teacher.
“While we made the decision to not replace the role of a senior director of diversity and inclusion, the staff now is part of the student services department.”
“Our Parent Engagement and Outreach Coordinator, Leah Aguilar, is still available to help our families and plan engagement opportunities,” she said.
“While social media is a wonderful tool, it can also be a source of rumors that take on a life of their own. I would encourage you to reach out and ask questions in order to ensure that you receive factual information.”
Lolli added: “We remain committed to providing support for our students and our families (and) we remain committed to giving our staff the tools they need to help ensure that every student feels safe, welcomed and accepted when they walk through our doors.”
For more information on Lakota’s LODI program and its new Community Diversity Council, see the district’s website at lakotaonline.com.
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