Last week the New York Times published an article on the current scandal in South Orange-Maplewood Public Schools District (SOMA): In January the school board placed Columbia High School principal Frank Sanchez on administrative leave. In March he was charged by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office with second-degree child endangerment and simple assault against one of his students. Since then, many residents in this mostly-affluent district have rallied in support of Sanchez, protested his arrest at school board meetings, and donated to a GoFundMe campaign closing in on its goal of $75,000. One parent quoted by NYT journalist John Leland says, “Frank Sanchez is the best thing to happen to our district in the 13 years I’ve lived here.”

Not everyone thinks so. Some question why SOMA took months to investigate an April 2023  Affirmative Action grievance detailing the assault filed by a ninth-grade girl (we’ll call her “Mandy”); why the district discarded a comprehensive report that found “good cause exists for the AA complaint” against Sanchez;  and, most strikingly, why no one appears concerned with what happens to Mandy, a Black student with learning disabilities.

As the Times points out, while SOMA “trumpets its progressive colors,” the district has a history of inequitable treatment of Black students, who comprise 23 percent of enrollment. In  2014 the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Jersey, and the Center for Civil Rights Remedies of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA sued the district for disproportionately confining students of color to lower-level classes and disproportionately disciplining students of color and students with disabilities. In 2018 the Black Parents Workshop sued the district in federal court for discrimination against Black students. Just this past year a Black preschooler with autism was hung upside down by his ankles, a Black student was suspended without evidence of misbehavior; and another Black student, who was trying to protect her special needs brother, was arrested when she confronted his bully. 

While “Hate Has No Home Here” signs dot lawns (with some newly-added “Friends Of Frank” signs), SOMA’s dysfunction roils under the surface, most notably through its inability to hold onto leaders: In November 2023, after a no-confidence vote from the local teachers union and the Black Parents Workshop, the school board ousted superintendent Ronald Taylor, the fourth superintendent in six years and the sixth in the last decade. He has been temporarily replaced with Dr. Kevin Gilbert, formerly the district’s Assistant Superintendent of Access & Equity who was in charge of the Affirmative Action complaint filed by Mandy. A community survey done by the newly-hired superintendent search firm concludes, “the high turnover, especially in the administrative positions, has created a lack of stability and vision for the district” and “equity and access were noted as significant challenges.” 

Indeed, a recent “Equity Audit” from Rutgers, a result of SOMA’s 2020 settlement with the Black Parents Workshop,  found “there is a lack of advocacy for Black students within the district,” a “general absence of caretaking for Black and brown students,” and a “over-representation of Black students in discipline.” At a recent school board meeting, the head researcher of the Audit, Dr. Edward Fergus, said “much more needs to be done to accomplish the district’s goal of equality.”

Mandy could have told you that.

Her plight has been documented on videos and in statements from several witnesses. It is detailed in the December 2023 report, commissioned by the school board and written by attorney Carl Taylor of Cooper Levenson, which summarizes interviews with Mandy, other students present at the time of the incident, and two assistant principals at the time, Melissa Butler and Terry Woolard. Taylor’s report also includes an interview with Sanchez, whose testimony, he writes, “implied or outright stated [Mandy] was a liar, and attempted to paint her in a negative light.” His conclusion verifies Mandy’s account: She was leaving the bathroom and “Mr. Sanchez said that I had to come with him and he grabbed me by the arm and then he pushed me against the wall,” hard enough to bruise her arms (also documented) and knock her cellphone out of her pocket. Then “[another student] pushed him away” and led her to a trusted adult, Melissa Butler. 

The assistant principals offered the following: “As confirmed by staff, such as his former vice principals,” writes Taylor, “it appears well established that there is a pattern of [Sanchez] taking harsher disciplinary measures against females, particularly black females, which is troubling in the context of this incident..” Staff confirmed it was an “open secret in the district that [Sanchez] has issues with black females and he had similarly lost his temper on black female students on multiple occasions.” Also, he frequently took advantage of “disadvantaged female children,” those whose “parents were less likely to come forward.” They reported he was “physical in confrontation with female students, and especially black female students when they did not respond immediately to his will.”

Taylor concludes that “inappropriate force was used” by Sanchez and “it appears well established that there is a pattern of [him] taking harsher disciplinary measures against females, and especially black females…Sanchez did not come across as fully credible in his discussion, whereas the other witnesses did. Accordingly, good cause exists for the AA complaint to be validated and for the District to consider appropriate consequences therefrom concerning [Sanchez].”

Yet soon after Taylor handed in his report, another lawyer from his firm, William Donio, emailed SOMA school board Attorney Patrick Carrigg, telling him Taylor’s report was a “draft” and he would follow up. While Donio interviewed Sanchez, he didn’t interview any students or staff, probably because the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office was starting its own investigation. Donio concludes that, because Mandy had a meeting with Sanchez after the alleged assault, “it would seem quite unbelievable for Principal Sanchez to have engaged in an affirmative action violation against her.” He dismisses the testimony of the other students and the assistant principals; regarding the latter, he says “ I find it somewhat disingenuous to use a single affirmative action report to create a narrative of some type of disparate and hostile educational environment.”

What is going on? Why did SOMA dismiss the comprehensive report—especially after years of documentation of discrimination—and rely on a thin, poorly-sourced replacement?

I asked James Davis, president of the Black Parents Workshop. 

“It’s either a cover-up or incompetence,” he explained. “If it’s a cover-up, that’s intentional, while incompetence could be negligence. Meanwhile it’s been a year since the assault and no one in the district has explained why this has taken so long. We’re waiting for that response.”

So is Mandy.

The South Orange-Maplewood school district has not responded to a request for comment.