Arab-American Principal to Lead Brooklyn Arabic-Themed School, Khalil Gibran International Academy
Just days after a federal panel determined the Education Department discriminated against the founder of the controversial Arabic language-themed public school, the current principal has resigned.
A veteran city principal will now take the helm of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn — and will become the first Arab-American to head the school since its founder left amid controversy.
Beshir Abdellatif will be the embattled school’s fourth principal. Its founder and first leader, Debbie Almontaser, was wrongly forced to resign in 2007, the Equal Employment Opportunity said in a decision last week.
Almontaser’s lawyer, Alan Levine, called the timing of the principal turnover “curious to say the least” and could be interpreted “as an attempt to deflect the conclusion of the [EEOC] that the DOE had engaged in discrimination,” he said.
Education Department spokesman David Cantor insisted today that Holly Anne Reichert, who’s headed the school for two years, wanted to leave, announcing the decision to her superintendent back in February.
Parents at the school weren’t told until Monday, however, in a letter that cited “personal reasons.”
“Holly Reichert has decided to leave Khalil Gibran International Academy to take position as a literacy coach at a secondary school in Queens,” Cantor said.
Abdellatif has worked for the city for 19 years and was principal of Law, Government and Community Service High School in Queens until Monday.
Rachel Monahan
New York Daily News