Principal at Paterson’s JFK High School has been suspended
PATERSON — Michael Hill, the operations principal at John F. Kennedy High School, was suspended with pay in December, days after three guns were confiscated at the school, officials confirmed.
The district did not notify Kennedy parents about the change in leadership at the school, nor did city education officials make any public announcement about it. Employees at the school said they noticed Hill was no longer around but had been given no explanation for his disappearance.
District officials said they were quiet about the suspension because it was a “a personnel matter.”
Hill’s suspension took effect on Dec. 21, according to district documents. Sources said the suspension would remain in effect until an internal investigation is completed.
Hill could not be reached for comment for this story.
District officials imposed heightened security measures at Kennedy, including requiring everyone entering the building to go through a metal detector, after the guns were seized at the school on Dec. 16.
Kennedy already was under scrutiny from district administrators because of an outbreak of fights and other incidents a year earlier. Administrators and delegates for the city teachers' union held meetings about Kennedy in December 2021 during which they identified more than 90 concerns about the school.
A plan that was crafted in January 2022 detailed those alleged problems, including a lack of accountability for bad student behavior, such as fighting, smoking marijuana and cutting classes to roam the hallways. The report also said the school had too few security guards to control unruly students.
“There are no consequences for anything,” said one of the concerns covered in the plan.
It was not clear whether the problems identified in that report were resolved during 2022. Students interviewed by Paterson Press in December after the guns were seized said fighting and weapons in their school were commonplace.
Earlier:Three guns seized after a brawl at Paterson’s John F. Kennedy High School
Several Board of Education members said they knew little about the circumstances of Hill’s suspension. He has worked for the district since 2010 and had been Kennedy’s operations principal for several years. Hill’s salary is $136,954, according to payroll records.
At present, Jorge Osoria, Kennedy’s principal for instruction, is overseeing the school’s operations, officials said.
The president of the union that represents Paterson’s principal referred questions about Hill’s status to the union’s lawyer. The president of the teachers’ union, John McEntee Jr., described Hill as “a gentleman.”
“I look forward to seeing him back,” McEntee said of Hill. “I think the district is a better place when he’s around.”
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ John F. Kennedy High School prinicipal suspended
