In the latest step in the turbulent saga of Khalil Gibran International Academy, the school’s third principal in as many years resigned yesterday.
The departure of principal Holly Reichert, who started at Khalil Gibran in 2008, comes just days after a federal commission found that the city discriminated against the school’s founding principal by forcing her to resign before the school opened. In an unusual move for a school principal, Reichert is leaving to become a literacy coach at the East-West School of International Studies, a secondary school in Queens.
Rocked by controversy since it opened in 2007, Khalil Gibran, the city’s only Arab-language school, will now have a new interim principal: Beshir Abdellatif. The former principal of Law, Government, and Community Service High School since 2008, Adbellatif has been working in the city’s public schools since 1991.
Reichert released a statement through New Visions, Khalil Gibran’s support organization.
“It was an honor for me to serve as principal of Khalil Gibran International Academy. However, I felt I had taken the school as far as I could and was looking for a new professional opportunity. I made the decision to transfer to another assignment a month ago but stayed on until this week while we planned the leadership transition at KGIA.”
The Department of Education’s statement follows:
“Holly Reichert has decided to leave Khalil Gibran International Academy to take position as a literacy coach at a secondary school in Queens. Beshir Abdellatif, who began his career with the Department in 1991 and has served as principal of Law, Government and Community Service High School since 2008, will lead the school until a permanent replacement is selected.”