After Walkout Princeton Students Meet Superintendent, Express Concerns

PRINCETON, NJ — At least 100 Princeton High School Students staged a walkout during lunch last Friday in support of dismissed principal Frank Chmiel.

The students marched down Moore Street towards Valley Road, the administration offices of Princeton Public School.

Once there, seven students were invited by Superintendent Carol Kelley to a meeting. However, students say they left the one-hour meeting feeling “frustrated.”

“We met with the Superintendent, but we don’t feel she heard us,” sophomore Thorsten Pfeiffer told Patch.

“We are upset that Chmiel is not principal anymore. Best case scenario we would love to have him back. But there are bigger issues at the school district that need to be addressed.”

Pfeiffer said Chmiel’s dismissal was just a part of larges issues facing students and the district.

“We’ve seen so many principals change in quick succession. It seems like a reoccurring pattern. There’s no sense of stability for students,” Pfeiffer said.

Speaking about Chmiel, the students said he was welcoming and friendly with all and with him gone “PHS feels less connected.”

The school district informed the community that Chmiel was no longer the principal of Princeton High School on March 17.

Students told Kelley they wished the district handled his dismissal better. “The letter that went out to the community from the Superintendent did not even name Chmiel. We feel it’s completely disrespectful and inappropriate,” Pfeiffer said.

The Board then appointed Kathie Foster as the interim principal of the high school.

The students also told Kelley that they expected the BOE to be more transparent, so the public knows why Chmiel was dismissed.

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