BY DAVID RESS Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

The principal of Richmond's troubled George Wythe High School has resigned.

In a letter to parents sent last week, A. Parke Land said he felt his health would no longer allow him to do the job and that he would step down from his post on Feb 22.

"I believe the letter says it all. Mr. Land is leaving George Wythe because of health reasons," school-system spokeswoman Felicia Cosby said yesterday. Land, who was at the school for less than two years, did not return a call seeking comment.

E. Martin Jewell, councilman for the 5th District, which includes Wythe, said Land's leadership has been under fire for some time.

Police calls to the South Side school on Crutchfield Street just off Midlothian Turnpike have ballooned: 87 so far this school year, up from 51 last year, a Richmond Times-Dispatch review of police records found.

This year's calls included one "mayday" -- a panic stations call for all available vehicles -- on Dec. 11, over what police records show were drug, trespassing and obstruction-of-justice complaints.

There also have been eight vice investigations, seven fights, two cases of gunshots being fired after school hours and numerous disorderly-conduct complaints.

A Times-Dispatch review of crime reports found 25 incidents of assault so far this year, compared with 33 for all of last year.

Jewell said he had heard complaints that Land spent too much time in his office rather than engaging students. Asked about that, Cosby said only that Land was leaving for health reasons.

Assistant principal Mel Rose will serve as acting principal until a permanent one is named.

Contact David Ress at dress@timesdispatch.com.