To the Editor:

Dr. Carol Kelley and Princeton Board of Education members, please accept our sincerest apologies on behalf of the Princeton community, particularly those of us who have remained silent or have not aggressively challenged the tone, disrespect, and harshness of the opposition to your decision to remove the former high school principal.

After release of the reasons for termination and the former Principal’s recent public comments deriding the people he managed, we are now clear that you have been the persistent target of lies, rumors, innuendos, and threats in the effort to force you to reinstate your former employee. After hearing the superintendent read a detailed 20-plus pages regarding the reasons for your decision, we understood that 11 RICE notices alone revealed that many witnesses were involved in the investigations, evaluations, and responses to the documented behavior and performance of the former employee.

Undoubtedly, the attacks, apparently led largely by non-residents and recent arrivals to Princeton, will continue. The ultimate objective seems to be to replace the superintendent and derail progress towards educational equity. However, this behavior is not a reflection of what this community is most of the time. While we have a passion for educational excellence, our community values civility, informed debate, honesty, and a true concern for all the students who benefit from this district’s resources. We hope everyone chooses to respect our community values.

We are satisfied that the superintendent and the entire BOE performed effectively in handling the personnel matter despite ethical and legal limitations that allowed a vocal and disruptive element to control the narrative until the Donaldson hearing.

Thank you for your work. We look forward to helping make our community much better than has been reflected in the recent events.

Shirley Satterfield
Quarry Street

Miki Mendelson
Hickory Court

Mary Robinson-Cohen
Clover Lane

Christopher Foreman SR.
Princeton-Kingston Road