Crown Heights Principal Told To Leave Over 'Vulgar' Texts, Emails

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A Crown Heights principal accused of calling coworkers "fat b****" or "stupid f***" has been asked to step down after 17 years running the school.

The Community Education Council for Brooklyn's District 16 voted unanimously last week to call for the "immediate termination" of Principal Karen Hambright-Glover, who has led P.S. 243 on Dean Street since 2005, according to the resolution.

The vote, first reported by the BK Reader, comes after years of complaints about Hambright-Glover, including emails and text messages that surfaced this year.

"Principal Karen Hambright-Glover has a long, documented history of being disrespectful, dismissive, and unprofessional in communicating with students, families, and school staff," council members wrote in their resolution.

In the text messages — which Hambright-Glover sent to her colleagues — she refers to her subordinates as “broke and thirsty,” “dumb, fat b****,” “so stupid,” “stupid f***” and other crude terms, according to the resolution.

Staff told the education council that Hambright-Glover uses similar obscenities in the workplace, creating a "hostile and unprofessional work environment" at P.S. 243.

Employees also told the council that Hambright-Glover refers to students with disabilities as “undesirables,” according to the resolution.

The most recent complaints come after similar concerns about Hambright-Glover surrounding a social media post in 2015 referring to a student as “the monkey you made," CBS2 News reported at the time. Back then, the National Action Network called for her removal, the council said.

Education council members contend Hambright-Glover's behavior has contribute to the school's overall decline, including a dramatic drop in enrollment since she took over in 2005. In that year, there were 517 students at the school, a population that now stands at 182, according to the resolution.

Only 56 percent of teachers at P.S. 243 say they would recommend the school to other families, according to the council.

"...Parents are consistently not choosing this school and families and staff are leaving due to the damaging inappropriate behavior, and emotional and academic neglect of the school leader," the council wrote.

President of CEC16, NeQuan McLean, told BK Reader that it has been hard to remove Hambright-Glover because she is tenured.

A Department of Education spokesperson told the outlet this week that the allegations in the resolution are being investigated.

"...Every student and staff member deserves school leadership that is supportive and respectful,” he told the Reader. “The Superintendent is directly intervening, and will be taking appropriate disciplinary steps and closely monitoring this school while all allegations are investigated.”

Hambright-Glover did not respond to BK Reader's request for a comment.

Read the outlet's full story here.