On Friday, March 17, at 5:30 p.m—just an hour and a half before former Principal Frank Chmiel’s scheduled appearance at the annual Asian Fest—an email from Dr. Carol Kelley and the Board of Education vaguely declared Chmiel’s departure from PPS. With no forewarning on the sudden announcement and no information on the rationale for his termination, frenzy ensued among PPS students and parents. An hour after the email, Ashley Chen ’23 and other C.A.R.E leaders created a petition, named “Chmiel Has Been Fired. We demand transparency and that the Board rescind his termination.” Within 24 hours of the announcement, the petition had garnered over 1,000 signatures.

From the start, students never knew if demands for more transparency and a repeal of his termination would be met. Despite the uncertainty, students created petitions, demonstrated peacefully, and made statements to the BOE with passion and power, catching the attention of local and state news. Activism may not produce an obvious outcome, but that should not stop people from voicing their concerns: the indirect effects of an action may drive the most important changes.

When the PPS administration dismissed Chmiel, we could have laid low and complied with the difficult decision. Instead, students voiced that Valley Road seemed to be oblivious to our visions of PHS — and how much of it Chmiel brought to life — prior to the dismissal. The vision of PHS that students have is an environment where students could unite under school spirit and where they could feel represented, safe, and taken seriously. Before Chmiel, there was no principal who was as engaged with the students nor took student input as seriously. He instilled an enjoyable and entertaining spirit that balanced our traditional rigorous academic routine. With the first Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month assemblies, students felt their culture and identity was more respected than ever.

Although Chmiel’s dismissal is unlikely to be overturned, this situation has empowered the student body to request that the Board of Education take our voices into consideration. When the Board makes decisions regarding our education and our school environment, we must be permitted to stand up against them. It’s been made abundantly clear that no matter what decisions the PPS administration will take in the future, the students and parents in our district will not be afraid to challenge these resolutions. Our district has already seen improvements made thanks to our activism. The Board of Education held a meeting on March 21st as well as the 28th, in which the board members addressed student and parent comments and concerns.

Most often when people think of student activism, they imagine students protesting against their college administrations for campus issues. On the rare occasions that high schools have protests or speak out about issues in their educational facility, they tend to be based around very threatening issues such as gun control in schools, inclusion of LGBTQ+ youth, or issues regarding mistreatment or abuse of students by teachers. Considering that Principal Chmiel’s termination amassed a peaceful protest, petitions and student outcries for transparency from the BOE, it is clear how seriously students are taking this issue. Student activism is an important tool which we must use in order to voice our opinions regarding decisions made in our very own school hallways.

The Tower calls on the Board of Education to consider the student body vision of PHS’s future when making future decisions and appointing our next principal. Only then can we close this perceived disconnect between administration and students.