An East Windsor principal is let go, and a community fights for her to keep her job
Imagine the principal of your child’s elementary school is beloved. Parents love her, kids love her, teachers love her. Imagine she’s been on the job for four years, up for tenure and contract renewal. Imagine the superintendent of the school district recommends the Board of Education give her tenure and contract renewal.
Now imagine the board dismisses the love, dismisses the recommendations, and votes to not offer her a new contract, to not offer her tenure.
And now further imagine the parents, kids, and teachers can’t get an answer to the simple question: “Why?”
How would you feel? “Baffled,” said parent Hilary Swanson.
“Like we’re getting the runaround,” said parent Crystal Techanand.
“Angry,” said Cristina Fowler, parent and outgoing PTO president at Grace Norton Rogers elementary school in Hightstown, which is part of the East Windsor Township Regional School District, and where Principal Heather Gladkowski will be leaving at the end of the school year unless the board calls for a another vote.
“We got a letter from the Board saying she will no longer be with us and we wish her well,” said Fowler. “Everyone’s first impression was that she found a better job, so good for her. As it turns out, her contract wasn’t renewed.”
Fowler said the outrage was immediate, and at the last board of education meeting, parents showed up with a petition signed by nearly 400 people in the district, and over 40 parents, students, and teachers spoke at the meeting in support of Gladkowski.
“We all asked the board to reinstate her,” Fowler said. “After the last parent spoke they said ‘thank you’ and went on the next item on the agenda.”
Fowler said the community is furious over this decision for two reasons. One, because they don’t want to lose Gladkowski, and two, because there are no answers forthcoming from the board.
“Nobody knows why her contract wasn’t renewed,” Fowler said. “Everything is rumor.”
I reached out to the superintendent, Dr. Richard Katz, in a futile attempt to get his take on what happened. After all, he recommended her. I got back what I expected, namely “no comment.” The reason is because it’s a personnel issue, and he’s not allowed to discuss it. You have to imagine he’d like to discuss it. It’s not every day a board of education dismisses a superintendent’s wishes.
“Parents are still upset,” said Fowler. “There’s a letter writing campaign happening right now, and there’s a lot of confusion as to who could call for a another vote. We’re hoping the letter writing makes a difference. We’re sure they think they made their decision in the best interests of the district, but now we’re asking them to please reconsider. We all mistakes, let’s fix this and continue doing great things in our district.”
Hilary Swanson, one of the parents, said yard signs are being made in support of Gladkowski. She said a website is being created. She said lawyers are being contacted.
“She should be untouchable,” Swanson said. “The staff loves her, the kids love her.” Crystal Techanand agrees. “She motivates everyone, and it radiates through the entire school,” she said. “It’s not a replaceable quality. We’re giving a gift to another district.”
The next board meeting was scheduled in East Windsor for June 11. But apparently, things may be moving quicker than that.
I received a Facebook message stating a special meeting is now being held Thursday night concerning “Personnel & Superintendent Evaluation Discussion.” As of now, it’s not labeled a “closed” meeting, though I would expect it will be soon.
Either way, this fight isn’t over. Can parents save their principal? Will the board provide a reason for their decision? Time will tell.
In the meantime, there’s a lot of sad faces at Grace Norton Rogers.