Inglewood Unified School District’s only high school will see a leadership change next year.
Lamar Collins, Inglewood High School United’s principal since 2023, confirmed he will not return in an April 13 email to The LA Local. James Morris, the district’s county administrator, did not respond to an email seeking confirmation.
The change comes during a transitional time for the campus, where students from Morningside High School and Inglewood High School have been consolidated on the same campus after district-wide school closures in 2025.
At the April 8 Board of Education meeting, current and former students as well as parents said they came to speak on Collins’ behalf, after they’d heard there were issues with his contract and that he wasn’t coming back as principal next school year.
“He made us feel, seen, heard and valued,” former student Max Garcia told the school board. “Because of his influence, I graduated not only with an education but with a stronger sense of self-respect and personal pride.”
Collins’ vacating his position as principal highlights a multitude of changes in the district after 14 years of state control, recent incidents of campus violence at Inglewood High School, construction of a new high school campus and teachers protesting about safety concerns. The next principal will inherit a campus during what could be one of the most significant periods in the district’s history — exiting state control — and for some in the community, having steady leadership will be vital to its success.
“With Dr. Collins, his door has always been open, to the parents and the kids,” parent Dawn Burkes said at the school board meeting earlier this month, imploring the board to be more transparent about Collins’ exit.
But at a rally and subsequent meetings, educators said violence had increased at Inglewood High School, in part, due to the consolidation of students from different neighborhoods after school closures — including one incident involving a stabbing following an altercation on campus.
Fre’Drisha Dixon, a community advocate with Stop IUSD School Closures and current Inglewood mayoral candidate, told The LA Local although she believes Collins is a good principal, the district placed him between a rock and a hard place when the two high schools merged.
“When you throw everybody in the same room, conflicts will arise because of ongoing issues that have existed for years within the community,” Dixon said. “We knew there were going to be public safety issues that would be hard to control.”
Dixon said the next principal should be someone who represents the student body and cares about the community.
”As long as the next principal continues to put the best interest of students first, I think the principal will be successful,” she said.
