NEW YORK—A revered Harlem principal on Friday was transferred to school in a different borough and may lose her job after she reported to authorities death threats from an assistant principal with whom she was once romantically involved.
Crystal Simmons, founding principal of the Academy for Social Action, sought help from school officials when her former lover, Candy Jones, allegedly threatened to kill her after Simmons gave Jones a sub-par performance review.
Both women could be terminated from their positions because officials believe they may have at some points been intimate during school hours and on the academy’s grounds. Jones was also transferred to a different school in the wake of the allegations.
Students at the school rallied around Simmons, who is widely respected there.
“Her main mission is college for everybody. We want her back,” said one tenth-grader from the Bronx. “She showed she cared for everyone. …I told my daddy I’m leaving the school if she’s not there, and my daddy agrees with me.”
Another student told the New York Daily News, “She wasn’t a principal who sat behind a desk.”