Keith Klein

🚨WOW!!! An Ohio principal LOST HIS JOB after refusing to abandon a homeless 16-year-old student who was sleeping in a CAR. He and his wife already had SIX KIDS… but they took him in anyway. When the boy offered to LEAVE so the principal could save his career, he refused. ❤️ His name is Rob Burnside. He had spent 31 YEARS in education and was the principal of Lakota East High School outside Cincinnati. The boy’s name is Landerius “DeDe” Hayes. During DeDe’s junior year, his home life fell apart. He says living with his mother wasn’t safe, his father was dealing with problems of his own, and there were nights when DeDe was sleeping in a car with the heater running because the mobile home where his father was staying was too cold. ...and yet, every morning, he kept showing up to school. Eventually the school learned DeDe’s mother had moved outside the district. Without a qualifying address, DeDe was withdrawn from Lakota East. That’s when Principal Burnside realized this wasn’t just an enrollment problem. This kid didn’t have a freaking HOME. Rob went home and told his wife, Angel, what was happening. Her response was basically: if he needs somewhere to live, he can live with us. Rob and Angel already had SIX CHILDREN, including two they had adopted, but there was a 16-year-old boy out there without a stable place to sleep, and they couldn’t ignore it. The couple prayed about whether they should take DeDe in. Rob has said that just minutes later, his phone buzzed. It was DeDe. “Hey, Mr. Burnside.” Rob looked at his wife and knew they had their answer. DeDe moved in with the Burnsides and suddenly had something he desperately needed: a warm house, food, stability and people who were going to show up for him. While DeDe’s custody and residency situation was being worked out, Burnside allowed him to continue attending classes even though he’d already been withdrawn. The district investigated Burnside for insubordination and raised concerns about enrollment, lunches and liability. He was eventually placed on administrative leave. After 31 YEARS in education, Rob says he was given a choice: step down or go through the termination process. The 16 year old, DeDe, realized Rob’s career was on the line and offered to LEAVE THEIR HOME so Burnside could keep his job. Rob wouldn’t allow it. He hugged DeDe and told him: "You’re part of this family. We’re not gonna turn our back on you.” So Burnside stepped away from the career he’d spent three decades building... and DeDe stayed. The Burnsides eventually became his legal family. DeDe started calling Rob and Angel “Pops and Ma.” Then this past May, Rob Burnside sat in the stands at DeDe’s high school graduation. Not as the principal, just sitting there as a dad, watching the kid he refused to abandon walk across the stage. DeDe is 18 now and is pursuing a career in aviation mechanics. When asked he regretted what happened, Rob simple said: “What value can we put on the life of a young person?” When Rob Burnside had to choose between protecting that career and protecting a homeless kid who needed somebody… He chose the kid. And when that kid offered to sacrifice his own home to repay him… Rob chose him AGAIN. THIS IS THE AMERICA I KNOW!!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸