Ohio Principal Loses Job After Housing Homeless High School Student

Former Lakota East High School Principal Rob Burnside lost his administrative job after housing an unhoused student, Landerius Hayes, and permitting him to remain enrolled in the suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, school district despite local address regulations.

Hayes faced severe instability outside the classroom during his junior year, often sleeping in a cold car while dealing with family hardship. When district officials discovered his mother's updated address fell outside school boundaries, they ordered his immediate withdrawal from the institution.

Burnside inquired about options to keep the teenager enrolled, but administrative leaders maintained that district policy required living with a parent inside the district. Burnside subsequently discussed the situation with his wife, Angel, and offered Hayes a place in their home with the mother's consent.

After opening his home, Burnside permitted Hayes to continue attending classes prior to finalizing formal guardianship. This administrative decision resulted in disciplinary action by the school district.

"First time I met him is when I seen him in the hallway and I was like, 'What's up, Mr. Burnside?'" student Landerius Hayes said.

The former administrator detailed the administrative ultimatum he received regarding his employment status following the decision.

"He can't be here. He doesn't have a parent who has an address. The parent resides elsewhere. He needs to go where the parent is," former principal Rob Burnside said.

Burnside reflected on the conversation with his wife that led to welcoming Hayes into their family home.

"The first words out of her mouth were, 'Well, he can come stay with us, if he needs to,'" Burnside said.

The choice to host Hayes became clear almost immediately after a quick text message exchange.

"We said, you know, 'God, if this is your will for this young man to be in our home,' you know, 'make it clear,'" Burnside said.

Shortly after sending that prayer, Burnside received a notification on his mobile device confirming the arrangement.

"Like five minutes later, my phone buzzes, and I look at it, and it's a message from him: 'Hey, Mr. Burnside.' And I grab it, and I look at my wife and say, 'I think we just got our answer,' and he's been in our house since then," Burnside said.

However, allowing the student to remain in school before resolving legal details directly led to school officials confronting the veteran educator.

"I was told that the district did not believe that I could go back in the building and be an effective leader, and I was given the option of stepping down or going through the process of being terminated," Burnside said.

When Hayes offered to return to his mother's living situation to protect the principal's career, Burnside refused to send him away.

"No. You're gonna stay with me," Hayes said.

Burnside reassured the teenager during the emotional transition as the family formalizations were moving forward.

"DeDe, you're part of this family," Burnside said. "we're not gonna turn our back on you,"

With legal guardianship officially established later, Hayes safely resumed his education and stabilized his daily living conditions.

"My mom, I couldn't live with her because it wasn't really safe to live with her," Hayes said.

Hayes expressed deep gratitude for the stark contrast between his past struggles and current stability.

"And my dad, he had some issues going on," Hayes said.

Reflecting on his past living situation, Hayes described the hardship he endured while struggling to stay in school.

"When I think about it now, it's like I don't know how I'm here. Yeah. I just don't know," Hayes said.

He recalled the shift from severe hardship to living in a secure environment as a normal teenager.

"At first, I was in a cold car, barely eating, barely in a school, just trying to be a good person. And now, it's just, I'm eating now. I'm in the house, being a kid.

Now, every time when I think about it, it's just, wow, how did I do it?" Hayes said.

Despite being unable to secure another local principal position after ending his 31-year education career, Burnside stands firm in his decision.

"Because what value can we put on the life of a young person?" Burnside said.

Hayes graduated from a nearby high school in May with the Burnsides in attendance and is currently training to become an aviation mechanic.