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Hillcrest HS principal steps down 1 month after students protest teacher's pro-Israel post
By
Jessica Gould
Published Dec 20, 2023
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By
Jessica Gould
Published Dec 20, 2023
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The principal of Hillcrest High School said he is leaving, weeks after a protest of a teacher who expressed support for Israel turned chaotic.
In a letter to parents, Principal Scott Milczewski said “it is with mixed emotions” that he is leaving his role for a position within the Education Department’s central office. He said his last day at the Queens high school will be Friday, Dec. 22.
“In my fifth year of devoted service to Hillcrest, this is a difficult decision for me to make, but I look forward to pursuing this new opportunity,” he said. “I am grateful that in this new role I will be able to impact and affect teaching and learning in a meaningful way across the city.”
Education Department officials would not comment on the departure, saying only that the superintendent would be announcing Milczewski’s replacement.
The New York Post, which first reported the episode at the school last month, described a "teen mob” that “rampaged through the halls,” causing “mayhem” on Nov. 20 to protest the teacher, who had held a sign supporting Israel in a social media post. Some 400 students stormed the hallways while the teacher was with security in an office on a separate floor.
Milczewski’s letter to parents detailing his departure did not mention the Nov. 20 incident.
The Education Department said it suspended several students as a result of the incident, and in a press conference a few days later, Schools Chancellor David Banks called the “targeting” of the teacher “completely unacceptable.”
But Banks said early reports sensationalized what had happened at Hillcrest.
“Many of the students who were running and jumping had no idea what was even going on,” said the chancellor, an alum of the Queens high school.
“Not everybody in that brawl was a Muslim or was antisemitic,” said Muhammad Ghazali, Hillcrest’s senior class president. “It was meant to be a peaceful protest from the very beginning, but some of these students lack maturity.”
Following the incident at Hillcrest, the schools chancellor also encouraged school administrators to be more proactive in encouraging peaceful dialogue between students on the Israel-Hamas war and other current events.
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education
Jessica Gould
Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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