Principals Suspended for Opposing 'One Newark' School Plan, Report Says

Four Newark school principals have been suspended after they publicly spoke out last week against Superintendent Cami Anderson’s “One Newark” district reorganization plan, sources told NJ.com.

A fifth principal was suspended for an unrelated matter, the sources also said.

Anderson’s proposal includes closing or reorganizing several schools that are under-performing or have low enrollment. The four principals who the sources said were indefinitely suspended for speaking out—H. Grady James of Hawthorne Avenue School, Tony Motley of Bragaw Avenue School, Dorothy Handfield of Belmont Runyan School and Deneen Washington of Maple Avenue School—all head schools affected by the plan.

The principals spoke at a public forum last Wednesday organized by South Ward Councilman Ras Baraka, a mayoral candidate who has taken a leave of absence from his job as principal of Central High School.

A district spokesman flatly denied the principals were suspended for speaking out against the plan.