We are Glenfield and Montclair parents and want Dr. MacCormack and the Montclair Board of Education to reinstate Charlie Miller as principal of Glenfield Middle School. The events of April 24th were unfortunate in many respects, and as parents, we recognize that a child bringing an air pellet gun on school grounds was a foolish decision. Charlie Miller defused the situation immediately upon learning of it. He used his discretion as the top administrator of the school to first take the gun and then contact involved parents and to speak with the children implicated. He then contacted the Superintendent’s office.  

The fact that Charlie Miller did not lock down the school and wait for the Montclair Police to arrive to disarm a 6th grader of a non-lethal hobby gun was a judgment call. One, frankly, that we all agree with. In this case, if Charlie Miller had abdicated the responsibility that he surely felt to use his judgment, the school would have – by dint of bureaucratic necessity – gone into ‘lockdown.’ With students pouring out of busses, half the kids would have been locked inside the school, and half outside. Nothing would have been accomplished – save for more chaos and more squandered hours that might have been spent on something valuable: education. Of course the very thing we need is thoughtful leaders who have the sense and skill to exercise judgment. At the moment of this supposed crises, Charlie Miller swiftly and simply ensured that the school was safe – and once it was, he got back to his one true mission. Dr. MacCormack said herself that it was within his discretion on how to best respond to protect the students and faculty.

As we have all now learned, there are protocols in place. After Charlie Miller’s initial call to the Superintendent’s office at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, the Superintendent’s assistant took two hours to contact Dr. MacCormack. In turn, it took four hours for Dr. MacCormack to call back Charlie Miller under circumstances that she believed were a ‘lockdown.’ And at no time during that day did Dr. MacCormack call the police as is required by her to do according to the New Jersey Administrative Code 6A:16-6.3 Reporting students or staff members to law enforcement authorities: (a) “Either the principal or the responsible staff member shall notify the chief school administrator, who in turn shall notify, as soon as possible, the county prosecutor or other law enforcement official designated by the county prosecutor to receive such information.” By her own admission, it wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that Dr. MacCormack called Charlie Miller and told him to call the police.

We also find it disturbing that after all we have learned from Dr. MacCormack at the meetings, we are asked to take her word that there are “other factors” that lead to Charlie Miller being forced out.  If these “other factors” are so egregious, then we should know what they are so as to be assured that her decision was the correct one.  As Dr. MacCormack stated several times, hindsight is 20/20 and mistakes were made that first day; but those mistakes were made by both she and Charlie Miller. Dr. MacCormack and her staff should be held to the same accountability as Charlie Miller. 
 
Charlie is one of the finest principals we’ve had in Montclair. He is communicative with parents, cares about the kids and the families and is the most pro active principal we have encountered. Big issues and small issues were handled with grace and humanity.  Any time we reached out to Charlie, he responded promptly and effectively.

While we appreciate that going forward new safety measures will be implemented in our schools, it’s unfortunate that some of those measures could not have been afforded to our Glenfield principal. A good man has lost his job and suffered a life-altering career setback because a child brought a dangerous toy to school. Common sense and good judgement have been turned into criminal offenses. We are determined to see justice and sanity restored. As members of the Glenfield and Montclair community, we submit to the Montclair School Board that before we go forward, we would like them to go back and reinstate Charlie Miller as principal of Glenfield Middle School. Thank you.