WHEATFIELD, N.Y. — Niagara-Wheatfield High School principal Michael Mann, who had been been placed on administrative leave after one student admitted to raping a fellow student, resigned Wednesday night.
For months, Leslie Camp had been calling for Mann to resign. She says her daughter was forced to go to school with her predator.
Niagara-Wheatfield's superintendent put Mann on administrative leave in June amid outcry from the community, which included students walking out of class.
Camp and community members say they were upset with the fact that Mann had allowed the student who admitted to raping another student to attend classes and school events.
District leaders say once the student pleaded guilty to the crime, he was removed from the school.
"I know that my daughter is not the first rape victim forced to go to school with her rapist, but she will be the last," Camp said at a school board meeting on Wednesday night.
Camp says her daughter was traumatized having to attend school with him, but adds that Mann resigning is the first step in implementing change in how rape cases are handled in the district.
Camp says she will now work alongside school leaders to change the district's policies so that a case like her daughter's never happens again.
"There is no denying this situation was handled poorly from Day 1," Camp said Wednesday night. "There is no denying that we, as a district, cannot allow circumstances such as this to occur or continue ever again.
"We, as a district, have the obligation and responsibility to protect every single student, regardless of race, background, sex or economic class."
Another change that has come from this incident: the district now has a policy requiring school board members to be made aware of students who are facing criminal charges monthly.
As for a new principal, district leaders say the search begins immediately.