Highlands Early Childhood Center principal abruptly steps down

The principal of Highlands Early Childhood Center abruptly stepped down Monday afternoon without a clear explanation, district officials said.

Highlands School Board accepted the resignation of Heather Bigney during a public voting meeting Monday night, just a few hours after Bigney submitted her resignation around 4 p.m., according to board members and Superintendent Monique Mawhinney.

Bigney could not be reached for comment.

Her resignation takes effect immediately.

She had been overseeing preschoolers and kindergartners as principal of Highlands Early Childhood Center on Atlantic Avenue in Brackenridge.

Bigney previously served as principal of Fairmount Primary Center and principal of Grandview Intermediate Center.

The motion to accept Bigney’s resignation — tacked on to the board’s list of personnel action items — surprised several people in the audience. A few called out to the board asking if this proposed vote had been publicized.

School board president Debbie Beale and other board members responded that Bigney’s resignation had been added to the board’s meeting agenda available online.

“This is procedure, it just came out today, that’s how this has to work, period,” Beale said before calling for a formal vote.

The board did not provide a copy of Bigney’s resignation letter at the meeting.

Mawhinney said that Bigney’s resignation did not stem from any district action or investigation and did not come at the request of the district. Mawhinney declined to say much more than, “She resigned.”

An interim replacement will be chosen, such as an assistant principal, while the board searches for Bigney’s successor.

“We literally just got the resignation, so we haven’t worked out the details yet,” Mawhinney said as she headed out of the Highlands High School library shortly after the meeting adjourned. “That’s what I’m going to go do now.”