Walt Disney Magnet School Principal Announces Retirement Just After Petition Calling For Removal

CHICAGO (CBS) -- After a petition calling for her removal, Walt Disney Magnet School Principal Dr. Kathleen Hagstrom abruptly announced her retirement Monday.

Mauricio Segovia, Chief of Network 2 for the Chicago Public Schools, said in a letter to parents that the district has appointed veteran general and special education teacher Kathleen Bandolik as a temporary replacement. Bandolik will serve until a new teacher is named.

Hagstrom's resignation from the school, at 4140 N. Marine Dr. in the Uptown neighborhood, follows a petition that implicated Hagstrom in a number of anonymous complaints.

More than 1,400 people signed the electronic petition.

The petition claimed there were numerous complaints by staff members were "too scared of retaliation" to speak out.

In comments on the petition, numerous parents and former students also slammed Hagstrom.

The CPS Equal Opportunity Compliance Office had begun an investigation before Hagstrom's retirement and will proceed with the probe, a CPS representative said.