To the Editor:

On May 24, the Town Topics published a letter from four Princeton residents where they openly ask the PPS superintendent and the Board of Education (BOE) members to “please accept our sincerest apologies on behalf of the Princeton community.”  This letter further stated that the community’s oppositions to recent PPS/BOE decisions were “the attacks, apparently led largely by non-residents and recent arrivals to Princeton.” This letter was indeed written very eloquently but was wrong, and insulting, in many ways.

First and foremost, why would taxpayers need to apologize to local elected officials and a particular public worker if they don’t agree with their decisions? By the same token, can I openly apologize, on behalf of Princeton community, to the mistreated public worker whose career and personal life were put on the line by the particular public worker, and blindly supported by the BOE?

I am not sure if I am qualified to be one of the “recent arrivals” (I moved into Princeton in 2016 and spent nine years prior in Montgomery). But I automatically felt diminished, and a little insulted by this open letter. This is the first time I personally have had a taste of what xenophobia is since I came to the U.S. in 2000. I now find it actually pretty laughable. I am very interested to know the definitions of “recent arrivals” and how these authors decided to do that on my behalf. These authors certainly have their rights to apologize to whoever and for whatever. But thanks, please just don’t do it on my behalf. And last but not least, to the many parents from Cranbury, whom I stand together questioning many problematic decisions made by PPS/BOE, I am sorry someone did this to you, but I just can’t apologize to you on their behalf, but you get the idea and I do believe someone needs to issue an open apology to you.

Talking about openness, I believe residents, new or old, all have rights in knowing the truth. I filed a few Open Public Record Acts (OPRA) to PPS recently. One is related to the Superintendent Dr. Kelley’s public statement on receiving “personal attacks” from the community due to her abrupt decision on dismissing the PHS principal, Mr. Frank Chmiel, in mid-March. The other was related to an incident on October 31, 2022, where a former PHS student entered PHS buildings and then was escorted out. The PPS staff handling these requests was very helpful and courteous, even though the results are not as open as I would like it to be. Based on what I have received, I will have to say Dr. Kelley’s statements are regrettably exaggerating, misleading, and even inaccurate. This fragmented information further shows to me that the BOE should have taken a more open-minded approach in finding the truth for their constituents other than just listening to their sole employee in the PPS, upon whom they make important decisions on my behalf.

Shenwei Zhao
Prospect Avenue