'Smash Space' Principal In Kensington To Step Down

KENSINGTON, MD — A Kensington elementary school principal announced she will step down less than a week after she apologized for setting up a "smash space" on school grounds for teachers to relieve stress by using baseball bats on a broken rocking chair, WTOP reports.

Kensington Parkwood Elementary School Principal Barbara Leiss sent a letter to parents that said "recent events have been at distraction" at the school. She will stay through the end of the academic year, which ends June 30.

Leiss said she set up the space on the school's loading dock in early March. She said she got the idea from reading business articles that discussed companies providing items to be smashed by employees as a way to reduce stress. Leiss thought that a "smash room" would give teachers an outlet and a way to decompress.

See Related: Teachers' 'Smash Space' Draws Apology From Kensington Principal

"This was a lapse in judgment,” Leiss wrote in a letter home to parents.

Sarah Sirgo, the director of school support and improvement, said MCPS does not condone this behavior and that they're investigating the incident.

“MCPS has a long-standing commitment to providing its employees with wellness support to help staff manage stress,” Sirgo said in the statement.

According to CBS, parents said the "smash space" is "outlandish" and "hard to believe."

However, on the original Patch article posted about the "smash space," readers expressed different opinions. One reader, identified as JB, commented on the post saying:

"I have yet to speak with anyone who has an issue with this. Everyone I speak with thinks there is a loud minority who have a personal gripe or agenda."

Another reader named Joanne Josephs said:

"None of them have heard of a Dammit Doll?? I don't care what they smash, or how they relieve stress but personally I would want that done on their own time like the rest of us. At a High School maybe it would have been kind of funny, but an Elementary School kinda in bad taste. If they kept it to themselves who cares honestly but that obviously didn't happen."

See the WTOP post here.

Photo: Montgomery County Schools