Fort Lee HS Principal Involuntarily Transferred by School Board

Against a wave of criticism, Fort Lee school board members unanimously voted to transfer high school Principal Priscilla Church to the early childhood center Wednesday night.

The move caught Church – and many parents – by surprise. 

According to the 40-year educator, she had been angling for a promotion to become the district's curriculum director. Church claims she was told that the board and administration didn't want her to leave the high school.

She wound up discovering Tuesday that she would be effectively demoted to running a preschool, a transfer she stressed was "involuntary."

"I felt like I was hit by a bullet," she said upon learning the news. "It's clear I asked for a promotion, not a transfer.... I wasn't asking for a raise."

According to Church, one of the reasons for the transfer was the board's feeling she wanted to leave the high school. Church says that feeling was misinterpreted; she was interested in "shifting" places so she could work elementary schools as well as the high school.

Acting Superintendent Sharon Amato said she couldn't discuss why Church was recommended to be transferred. Amato and the school board said "personnel" issues could not be publicly addressed, acknowledging only that there was interest in taking the high school in a "different" direction. 

Church said she was told the new direction was "content-based" though further explanation was not disclosed.

Even discussing the vision the school board has for the high school would veer into personnel matters, board attorney Dennis McKeever said. The future of the high school can be addressed at the "appropriate" time, he added.

Church claims the school board's apparent displeasure with her performance was never voiced to her, nor was it reflected in her performance evaluations. 

Further, she claimed, former Superintendent Steven Engravalle had tried to push her out as high school principal. The reasons? Engravalle wanted a "burly man that could straighten out the high school" and later said she was "too old" for such a stressful position, she alleged.

"I'm fighting for my professional right," Church said. "I am tremendously hurt, I feel terribly diminished and terribly defeated."

Parents at the high school library rushed to Church's defense, telling board members the decision was "an insult" to the veteran educator.

Lola Padin called the involuntary transfer "legal" but "shameful." Paul Umrichin shared a similar sentiment, remarking that the transfer was akin to "giving her a big middle finger."

Resident Paula Colbath said the transfer will hurt the district's ability to retain and recruit educators. "This just isn't the right way," she said.

Others laid the blame on Amato, the district's former curriculum director.

Diane Sicheri said the acting superintendent has "constant issues with employees."

"If I were her boss, I would fire her," she snarled. 

Neither school board members nor administrators would say if they have a new principal in mind for the high school or when a decision might be reached.