Newly appointed Brennan Rogers Principal Kimberly Daniley, Bishop Woods Principal Florence Crisci.
The school at the center of a controversy over use of a racial slur has a new principal, after an hour-long Board of Education debate over how best to move forward.
The board voted 4 – 3 Monday night to approve the appointment of the new principal, current King Robinson Assistant Principal Kimberly Daniley, to take over as the new leader of Brennan-Rogers Magnet School.
In a second vote the board voted unanimously to also promote Bishop Woods School Assistant Principal Florence Crisci to principal after the recent promotion of former principal Dina Natalino. The board also approved 27 teacher hires, one paraprofessional, and one non instructional staff member. (List of hires here.)
Hour-Long Debate
The Brennan Rogers vote was taken after an hour of debate at the Zoom-held meeting over what should come first: hiring the new principal or launching a new investigation into what many New Haveners still believe is an unresolved incident regarding the use of the “n‑word” by former Brennan-Rogers Principal Laura Roblee.
BOE member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, one of the three dissenting voters, argued that hiring a new principal before conducting a new investigation is “fueling the fire” of an upset and unacknowledged school community. Jackson-McArthur said Daniley will enter a “situation that has not been addressed” due to the superintendent’s lack of support offered to the school immediately after the incident.
Other board members, Mayor Justin Elicker, Matt Wilcox, and Edward Joyner, argued that the hiring of a new principal should be the first aiding step to the school’s healing process. Joyner added that the board should avoid doing more harm to the community by delaying the appointment to a later date.
The board voted 4 – 3 vote against BOE member Darnell Goldson’s motion to table the hire of a new principal until a new investigation was launched. Goldson said a new investigation could provide more thorough information about the incident in order to support the affected community. He requested an additional investigation into how the superintendent’s executive team led the hiring process. He raised concerns about Brennan-Rogers Assistant Principal Karissa Stolzman declining the position. Several of the school’s teachers and staff members praised Stolzman’s leadership of the school in the wake of the incident. (Read that letter from the school members here.)
Later in the meeting, Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey said that, contrary to what some members suggested, her administration did reach out to help people at Brennan Rogers in the wake of the incident.
“Staff was sent to support the school,” Tracey said. She authorized one administrative coordinator to support the assistant principal after the incident. A resident restorative coach was also considered but the coach backed out at the last minute “over concerns of legal implications as a member of the New Haven Federation of Teachers.”
“I’m not surprised that we would continue to make decisions knowing that we don’t have all the information,” said Goldson.
The board then voted 4 – 3 in favor of hiring Daniley. Larry Conaway, Goldson, and Jackson-McArthur voted against the appointment. “We can’t expect Ms. Daniley to go and clean up a mess she did not make,” said Jackson-McArthur. “I’m not against the person. I’m against this process. I’m not confident in the support that the superintendent will lend to her.”
Public Weighs In
Maya McFadden Photo
Sunday’s rally outside City Hall.
During the meeting’s public participation session, 17 people called for a new investigation into the incident and urged board members to push to get answers and more information about all matters from the superintendent before casting their votes.
Cathrine La Forza asked how the board will address the harm done going forward. She argued that the incident sent a message to students “that Black lives do not matter when a white person in a leadership position uses a vulgar slur to refer to them.”
“It saddens me to see that four members of this board voted on something they did not have the complete information on. That definitely increases the public’s mistrust in the decision making of this board,” said Maritza Spell.
Many who testified also attended a rally Sunday on the steps of City Hall calling out the board and city leaders for “unethical” leadership when handling the investigation and aftermath of the “n‑word” controversy.
Those who testified also demanded that the board open its public chat box during Zoom meetings and/or go back to in-person meetings to allow the community to engage with the board and other attendees. NHPS parent Nijija-Ife Waters suggested that the community start filing complaints about the district to the state for not following bylaws and policies.
During the superintendent’s report, Tracey gave an apology to the community for the hurt caused from the district’s decision and for not addressing the aftermath of the pain caused more immediately. To help schools better learn about the “complexities around racial injustice” the district is in the process of hiring a trained external facilitator to work with school staff, she said.
In addition, she said, she is in conversation with the NHFT president to get information about the complaints about Roblee that the school staff letter mentioned spanning over the past three years. During July and August, her team will conduct individual and group meetings for educators to voice their concerns and a webinar for parents and the community to do the same, she said.
A “culturally relevant pedagogy from theory to action” training is scheduled for 250 educators on Aug. 4 and 5. It is to feature 32 student, teacher, and national expert presentations about anti-racist education, said Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Ivelise Velazquez.