Debbie Almontaser

Sean Grogan, an educator and current teacher at KGIA, where he is also UFT Chapter Leader, comments, “I, as well as others, came to KGIA because of Debbie Almontaser’s vision and the leadership she brought with her. I was honored to be working with someone so talented and committed to our children, who, as an Arab educator, not only brought with her a great knowledge of Arabic culture and language, but was also a bridge builder who was uniquely qualified to bring our communities together and to lead such a school.” Grogan added that “Debbie Almontaser by far remains the person most qualified to lead the Khalil Gibran International Academy, which has been in great disarray since her forced resignation.”

KGIA parent Saleh Altaheri agreed: “It is Debbie Almontaser—her vision and qualifications to be the leader of KGIA—that we most need at this time.”

The DOE has withheld a significant detail from the media and public regarding Holly Reichert, the new principal: Reichert comes to her position from New Visions for Public Schools, one of the key players in forcing Almontaser’s resignation. But all of the DOE’s descriptions of Reichert’s qualifications for this position, as cited in numerous media reports, omit her affiliation with New Visions, on whose Board both the Chancellor and UFT President sit. “This omission is misleading and obscures the fact that the DOE’s search for principal began and ended in its own backyard,” added Carol Horwitz of Communities in Support of KGIA.