HOUSTON – The Houston Independent School District has reassigned Sharpstown High School principal Robert Gasparello after four students claimed that he slapped them around in recent weeks.
They made sworn statements to HISD police, and authorities are now investigating.
KPRC 2 talked to two of the students who filed police reports. One student claimed that Gasparello hit him in the head with a marker several times. Another student said Gasparello singled him out, labeled him as a gang member and hit him.
None of the boys showed any obvious signs of injury. The students contacted the Houston chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens after two of them were kicked out of school.
"I think the principal is the role model of the school and he should exhibit the right behavior and hitting students is not the correct behavior," Dr. Robert Kimball of LULAC said.
Gasparello is set to meet with HISD police Thursday and has agreed to answer a series of questions.
In 2013, Gasparello was removed from campus for nearly a year after failing to report suspected child abuse at the school. Prosecutors agreed to drop the charge in October if he maintained a clean record.
Houston attorney Rusty Hardin, who represented Gasparello in the failure-to-report case, believes that the students orchestrated the latest incidents to get back at a principal who wants nothing more than to keep the school safe. He said he is speaking out as a friend.
"What he has done (is), he has taken a troubled school and made it a model and his frustration is he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt," Hardin said.
Sharpstown students told KPRC 2 that Gasparello was dedicated to the students and had only had their best interests in mind.
"He helped us out with sports. He bought our shoes, anything for basketball. He helped us out so everybody could be part of the team," Jairo Lerma said.
The Houston Federation of Teachers, which does not represent school principals, released a statement: "The district needs to look at its procedures. What we're seeing with him is the same thing we see with our teachers."
"They put him out without evidence or witnesses and it destroys your credibility even when you're cleared," said Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers.