Princeton High Principal Reappointed, BOE Addresses 'Misinformation'

PRINCETON, NJ — After much speculation and concern over the past few weeks, Frank Chmiel was reappointed as principal of Princeton High School. The announcement was made during Tuesday evening’s Board of Education meeting.

The vote to reappoint Chmiel was 8-2, with Michele Tuck-Ponder and Debbie Bronfeld voting ‘no’.

Last week, high school students circulated an online petition urging school Superintendent Carol Kelley to renew Chmiel’s contract, as they feared Kelley had recommended contract termination. Read More: Princeton Students Back Principal After Possible Contract Termination

At the beginning of the meeting, several board members acknowledged receiving emails and other forms of communication from students and residents, which they said were rife with “misinformation.”

“In the past few weeks, there have been a lot of rumors. And along with the rumors, there's been an unfortunate lack of civility,” said Board President Dafna Kendall. “We can disagree. But I hope now and going forward, we can do it respectfully.”

The board member's comments were in reference to Kelley, who faced much criticism over Chmiel’s contract, the departure of Science Supervisor Mridula Bajaj, and the appointment of Ebony Lattimer as Assistant Principal at Princeton Middle School.

Bronfeld, a member of the Personnel Committee, said all discussion on staff is expected to be confidential.

“It was very hard reading the many letters I received last week — the way some of the letters went after Dr. Kelley was unacceptable to me,” Bronfeld said. “Dr. Kelley is the leader of our district, being a woman in power is hard. And being a black woman in power is even harder. Dr. Kelley is being attacked for the job we hired her to do. She was approved 10-0 to become Princeton Public School Superintendent, not an easy community to work in, and not an easy district to lead.”

Tuck-Ponder said she has seen a lot of controversies but has been disappointed by the “personal attacks, the lack of civility” towards Kelley in the communications she received.

“Probably most distressing is that people are saying things that are either uninformed, misinformed, or untrue. It is really hard being in leadership in this town, both as a female and as a black woman,” Tuck-Ponder said.

“The attacks that I've seen, not only on our superintendent but on principal, Ebony Latimer are simply unacceptable.”

During the open forum section, various students expressed their concerns over equity.

Student representative Chris Shen condemned all racism and sexism circulating last week but said it was important for students to share their concerns regarding the direction the district was taking.

“PPS students are hurting after these two long years of COVID. In a time like this, our district needs leadership and transparency. But we as students have found it hard to feel represented and listened to,” Shen said.

“A district cannot be simply run without consideration of the students, let alone without the opinions of the parents and even the teachers.”

Ned Erickson said students were still concerned about Bajaj’s departure. Read More: Princeton Students, Teachers Concerned As Science Supervisor Departs

“Our schools are only as good as the educators. And it's both worrying and telling that one of our most successful and committed educators no longer feels able to do her job in this current climate,” Erickson said.

Students Kyara Torres-Olivares and Joycelyn Brobbey said BIPOC voices were not being heard or taken seriously and questioned the district’s equity planning.

“I and many other BIPOC students have worked so hard this year on these equity initiatives, and it hurts to see that the leader of this district has yet to attend a single one of them,” said Torres-Olivares. “It hurts to see that their conversations of equity planning have had no follow-through or visible action.”

During the public portion of the meeting, a number of parents spoke about the district's equity planning and how all students could benefit from district resources.

Over 250 people tuned into the BOE meeting at some point on Tuesday night.

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