HOUSTON – An HISD principal and high ranking administrators are out of job after both were arrested and charged with drug possession.
Court records show former Wheatley High School principal Ronald Rodriguez and HISD High School officer Dana Bost were arrested on October 18 near Pritchard, Alabama. Both had been with HISD less than one year.
"I just met him, he hadn't been here very long," said parent Sandra Mitchell.
When parents picked up their children from Wheatley High School they had trouble understanding how a principal who seemed to be making a difference is the same one now charged with drug possession.
"I've seen change in the school, and you get more reports, more support and things of that nature that he offered the school that I have not seen in the past," said parent Gwendolyn Benton.
Police said Rodriguez and his fiancé, Bost, were pulled over for speeding on I-65 near Pritchard, Alabama. Police said the couple's rented SUV was going 81 miles an hour in a 65 mile per hour zone. Court records read officers became suspicious of the pair, who refused to allow a search of their car.
"They were going from Atlanta to Houston in a rental with no luggage and their stories didn't match up," Pritchard police chief Gerry Speziale told Local 2.
Court records read the couple's SUV was eventually searched after a K9 unit detected an odor of drugs. Court records read officers found 5 hand rolled marijuana cigarettes and small bag of what officers believed to be cocaine in a purse. Court records read officers also found a large bag containing four smaller bags of marijuana hidden beneath ice and canned drinks in a Styrofoam cooler in the backseat.
Rodriguez was charged with marijuana possession and Bost was charged with marijuana and cocaine possession. Both were released after posting a $25,000 bond.
There was no answer at a West Harris County house the couple listed as their home address in court documents. A message left for Rodriguez has not been returned. Bost had no comment when reached by phone on Monday.
HISD officials would not comment on the charges, but in a statement to Local 2 wrote that Rodriguez and Bost are no longer with the district.
In an odd coincidence, two days before her arrest, Bost is the HISD administrator who had to reassign a Sharpstown High School teacher who stands accused of inappropriately touching a student.