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March 13, 2024Was South Orange-Maplewood Principal Just Breaking Up a Fight? Not So Fast.
Amid the turmoil at South Orange-Maplewood’s Columbia High School, there have been multiple versions of what led the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office to issue a warrant for Columbia High School principal Frank Sanchez on charges of second-degree child endangerment and simple assault. One of the versions was recited by former SOMA School Board member Courtney Winkfield, who yesterday posted on social media, “the incident was there was a fight at Columbia High School in which Principal Sanchez tried to intervene for student safety.”
Was there indeed a fight that would provide mitigating circumstances for Sanchez’s “intervention”? Was Sanchez simply doing what he had to do to protect students from harm?
I asked James Davis of Davis Advocacy and Consulting, whose firm is representing the tenth-grader in question. He says his client wasn’t in a fight and that the “only aggressor was Mr. Sanchez.”
How would Davis know that, I asked?
He explained that, as the tenth-grader’s attorney, and with her parents’ approval, this past fall he requested all her school records and received them in a zip file from the district. If, indeed, a fight had occurred on March 9th, 2023, state law requires the high school to file an “incident report.” Yet there was no such report in his client’s file. To the contrary, there is an incident report, based on eyewitness accounts by staff and other students, that confirms his client was not involved in a fight and describes Sanchez as the aggressor toward the student.
Davis says his client was suspended by Sanchez the following day, March 10th, 2023. When a student is suspended from school, state law mandates that the district file specific paperwork detailing the cause of the suspension. However, the student’s records include no such paperwork.
There are also state law requirements that permit the student to appeal the suspension. Davis’s client was never afforded the opportunity to appeal her suspension, which he says is also a violation of state law.
Davis said that Ms. Winkfield’s “false, defamatory and misleading statements have whipped the community into a hysterical frenzy akin to the January 6th storming of the Capitol.” All these people, he added, “believe her lies and have unfortunately disregarded the truth of the student.”
This is a developing story.
Adding, this afternoon at 1:30 Columbia High School students are planning a walk-out in support of Frank Sanchez.
6 Comments
This is a complete Political hit. Our principal is beloved And there was a student walkout in support of him today.
What everyone is leaving out. Is this girl who was actually in the fight was known for being in prior fights.
This should be a national story. It is identity politics at its worst.
I feel for the Sanchez family and Columbia high school community. They are being strong-armed by A special interest group
Irresponsible journalism and a pure political attack. The towns support Sanchez. BPW and Malespina are corrupt and need to be investigated. There was just a big walkout, demonstration at city hall to support Sanchez and we just raised $50,000 in 1 day, on his 50th birthday, for his defense. We’re sick and tired of these little militant activist “social terrorist” groups constantly suing the district. They’re trying to destroy it for their selfish gains and politics. We’ve had enough.
This is a complete Political hit. Our principal is beloved And there was a student walkout in support of him today.
What everyone is leaving out. Is this girl who was actually in the fight was known for being in prior fights.
This should be a national story. It is identity politics at its worst.
I feel for the Sanchez family and Columbia high school community. They are being strong-armed by A special interest group
James Davis and Elissa Malespina need to be investigated.
Interesting that Walter Fields, Albert Sally, and Theodore Stephens II are fraternity brothers.
Reportedly, some CHS students have reported that the charges are false and other students are lying. Can’t know if this is true, but it needs to be investigated.
Insanity that Principal Sanchez is potentially going to jail for doing the humane thing and trying to keep a student from fighting.
The Black Parents Workshop does not represent the vast majority of black parents in SOMA. Many think Davis is a grifter and malignant narcissist.
I feel for the minor involved in this story, as she is clearly being used by a group of narcissistic adults who are motivated to keep their names in the newspapers. Shame on everyone who is dragging a dedicated educator and father in the mud to further their own personal and political goals. It is clear from the reactions of hundreds of students and parents that you are isolated in your selfish goals.
I feel like this attorney’s account of the events reads like an 8 year old describing an incident; “My brother hit me for no reason at all”.
The idea that a principal, any principal would walk down a crowded hall, monitored by security cameras, and simply attack a student for no reason just isn’t plausible.
I also object to this being a “Hit Job”. This is a financial play. The attorneys involved simply troll for lawsuits against municipalities that they can spin into a civil rights claim. Once they find an opportunity, they promise their client a big payout. The vast majority of school districts and municipalities don’t have the resources or the stomach fight these, so they pay the attorneys to go away. Brilliant business model.