OBJECTIONABLE UTTERANCE: The banner seen here appeared Tuesday morning across from the Princeton Shopping Center at the corner of Valley Road and Ewing Street, criticizing recent Princeton Public Schools Board of Education initiatives and candidates for re-election. School Board President Dafna Kendal said, “There’s no place for that kind of hate here.”

By Donald Gilpin

A large banner attacking Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education initiatives — and specifically attacking current candidates for re-election Debbie Bronfeld, Susan Kanter and Dafna Kendal — was installed across from the Princeton Shopping Center on the corner of Valley Road and Ewing Street on the morning of November 1.

“Phony Equity, Gender Confusion, Reverse Racism” the banner reads, “Eagerly approved by Board of Education. Bronfeld, Kanter, Kendal vote them Out!”  The banner is apparently a criticism of the board’s initiatives in promoting equity, teaching sex education, and seeking to combat racism.

“Princeton is a welcoming community, and there’s no place for that kind of hate here,” said Kendal, who is president of the Board. “There has been an undercurrent of racism and anti-LGBTQ sentiment during this campaign, and this is further evidence of that.”

The individual or group that created and placed the banner remains anonymous. A website noted on the banner contains a post by Princeton resident Junglien Chen, which criticizes PPS Superintendent Carol Kelley for implementing agendas of “phony equity,” “gender confusion,” and “reverse racism” at her previous job at Oak Park Elementary School District 97 in Illinois.

At press time Tuesday it was not clear whether the creators of the banner received permission to put it up or if the banner, which was taken down then restored at one point in the day, would remain.