Parents Demand District Leaders Fire Graham & Parks Principal in Open Letter

An anonymous group of parents at the Graham & Parks Elementary School called on Cambridge Public School Superintendent Victoria L. Greer and the School Committee to fire the school’s embattled principal Kathleen M. Smith in an open letter on Monday.

The letter — signed by the G&P Caregiver Coalition and published in the Cambridge Day — calls Smith the “wrong person” to lead Graham & Parks and demands that Greer and the School Committee take “immediate action” March 31, when Greer is required to notify Smith about the renewal of her contract. Without any action, her contract will automatically renew.

“In just 18 months, our principal, Kathleen Smith, has divided and alienated staff, students and families and thrown our community into disarray,” the letter says, adding that “our city leaders have not stepped up.”

A CPS spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

Since the fall, the G&P Caregiver Coalition — an anonymous group of dozens of Graham & Parks parents and caregivers — has called into question Smith’s leadership, accusing the principal of failing to communicate effectively with parents and fostering a toxic workplace environment. In January, Greer announced that CPS had hired an external law firm to investigate the toxic workplace allegations.

But the letter said that Greer should not wait until the investigation was complete.

“We have not received assurances that the investigation will be complete before the contract deadline, and the city is under no obligation to share the report with Greer before she makes the contract decision, so we feel the urgent need to speak out now,” the letter said.

The letter was published one day before a highly-anticipated School Committee meeting Tuesday, which was slotted to feature Greer’s midpoint evaluation. Though the evaluation was postponed until April, nearly 30 parents spoke out against Greer’s leadership during the meeting.

In the letter, parents accused Greer of hiring Smith despite a “​​documented history of failed leadership,” claiming Greer disregarded a Newton Public Schools HR report that found Smith fostered a “toxic workplace” while principal of Underwood Elementary School.

“​​Greer and her team have minimized our concerns and defended Smith in the face of strong evidence that they failed to properly vet Smith,” the letter says.

“If Smith’s contract is renewed, the message will be clear: Cambridge welcomes failed leaders forced to leave other districts and will defend them even as they alienate and divide the community they serve,” the letter reads.

—Staff writer Darcy G Lin can be reached at darcy.lin@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Emily T. Schwartz can be reached at emily.schwartz@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @EmilySchwartz37.