Dr. Amy Phillips is detrimental to the St. Louis Public
School District and must be removed as Principal of Gateway STEM High School, immediately!

My daughter and I were featured twice on our local news station in Saint Louis, Missouri on September 28, 2018 and again October 2, 2018. My 15 year old child was threatened, taunted, and assaulted by 4 older students on September 28, 2018. When she was forced to defend herself after a second assault in the same day, she was suspended for 5 days along with only one of her attackers.

I was not notified of the  fight my child had been involved in by the school, but instead by another parent over an hour after the assault occurred. The video I was sent when refusing to believe my child had been involved in a fight showed a viscous brawl highlighted when a male security guard wrapped his forearm around my daughters upper body slamming her to the floor. The fight itself should have been reported to me, but even more urgently due to the security guards actions which could have caused even more severe injury to her.

Dr. Amy Phillips did not contact me and neither had my child! Dr. Phillips who is supposed to be caring, fair and compassionate to all students had already contacted a basketball jocks parents and sent her home after the fight but chose to put my child in an unused, isolated area of the school for 2 hours. Principal Phillips had confiscated my daughter's phone and refused repeated request when my child asked to call me.  other staff members of the school she was held in an isolated room for 2 hours and her cell phone had been confiscated. This in itself was a violation of my child's rights and should have not occurred.
  
If it were not for the parent who contacted me and sent the video of the fight, I would have never known until my child arrived at home. I contacted the school via telephone several times only to be told the Principal, Dr. Amy Phillips was in a conference and would need to call me back. As of today, I have never had any communication with the principal regarding the fight or the actions she took afterwards which are worse.

Dr. Phillips became very vindictive, targeting my daughter and I with her very unprofessional behavior due to my complaints about the way she and her staff handled the circumstances surrounding the attack on my child.

I was banned from all St. Louis Public School property, based on fabrications which were proven to be untrue. The ban was initiated by Dr. Phillips but rescinded within 2 days. Dr. Phillips actually knew she was wrong for what she had done to my child and because of my local news interview chose to take inappropriate actions against me.

During the prior school year, I had conversations and sent emails to the Principal Phillips, an Assistant Principal and School District Superintendent Dr. Kelvin Adams regarding the concerning and unpleasant learning environment at Gateway STEM High School. My complaints were ignored. My child was also told by Dr. Amy Phillips in 2017 to stop complaining to me and school administrators about the acts of bullying she was experiencing and to "get used to high school!" 

I have always been an involved parent in my children's education and knew the things occurring with my daughter in a learning environment needed attention, so I began documenting and emailing school administrators including the superintendent.  

My actions before and after the fight lead to harsh, retaliatory treatment from Dr. Phillips and Gateway STEM staff members. I was informed by a teacher who wished to remain anonymous about the direction Dr. Amy Phillips had given school staff. They had been told to follow and watch my daughter as well in an effort to catch her doing something wrong. No child should be subjected to these conditions.

After the fight and because of my unwillingness to be silenced, my child was harassed, ridiculed, traumatized and, punished with unfair disciplinary actions for weeks after the September 28, 2018 assault.

My daughter was  sentenced to In School Suspension for 17 days after she became ill in a class and was told by the teacher she would have to walk out to go to the restroom. My child was had an upset stomach, had a high fever and sent home by the nurse. Upon her return to school, she was punished for walking out of class. Dr. Phillips never reported the unfair disciplinary actions she had taken against my child to me which was very inappropriate behavior of a school principal.

To make matters worse worse, when my child went to her office to question why she was being punished for being sent home ill, Dr. Phillips chose to scream and yell at her. (See attached video)

At the time of the assault, my child was doing very well in her classes. She had a 3.5 GPA, was a member of Student Council, Dance and Air Force Drill teams. Because of Amy Phillips condoning, inappropriate behavior, and participation in the harsh acts against my child and I, my daughter's  grades plummeted. It was also reported to me, Principal Amy Phillips bumped my daughter as they passed in a school hallway and said to her, "Every since you've been back from suspension, you have been nothing but trouble."

Dr. Phillips and Gateway STEM High School staff lead my daughter to contemplating suicide!! After counseling, being home schooled and love from her family and friends, my child is still recovering. She will never be the same as she was before traumatizing experiences she endured at the hands of Dr. Phillips, but she is alive to try.

Dr. Amy Phillips has done too many horrendous things that were dangerous to my child. I have also listened to several parents and staff members who want to remain anonymous about her unprofessional behavior as a school principal. 

I am asking for support on this petition to remove Dr. Amy Phillips from Gateway STEM High School as Principal. Dr. Phillips had no regards towards the safety of my child and is not a person who should be allowed to educate children in any capacity.