The principal of a Brooklyn middle school that teaches Arabic language and culture has stepped down after a federal agency found the school’s original principal was unfairly ousted.
The Department of Education says the principal, Holly Reichert, actually announced her intention to leave the Khalil Gibran International Academy in February. That was before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released its report on Friday finding that the city discriminated against the school’s founding principal, Debbie Almontaser.
The commission claims Almontaser was forced to resign in 2007 to appease the school’s anti-Arab critics who called her a radical Muslim. The commission has asked the city to consider reappointing her.
She was demoted to a desk job in 2007 at about half her principal’s salary. The city refuses to reassign her and its law department says the EEOC’s finding is without any basis.
The DOE says the school’s latest principal left to work as a literacy coach at a Queens secondary school.
The DOE credits Reichert with helping the Brooklyn middle school of 114 students earn an A on its last report card.
In statement, Reichert says: “It was an honor for me to serve as principal of Khalil Gibran International Academy. However, I felt I had taken the school as far as I could and was looking for a new professional opportunity. I made the decision to transfer to another assignment a month ago but stayed on until this week while we planned the leadership transition at KGIA.”
Her interim replacement is Beshir Abdellatif who previously headed a small high school in Queens.
