Graham & Parks Principal Set to Return Next Year as Discrimination Suit Proceeds

Cambridge Public Schools renewed Graham & Parks Elementary School Principal Kathleen Smith’s contract, a district spokesperson confirmed Friday, extending her tenure amid renewed scrutiny over her leadership and an ongoing disability discrimination lawsuit.

Thursday was the deadline for the district to notify Smith that her contract would not be renewed. Smith has led the school since 2022. In 2024, some parents called for her removal, alleging that she had communicated poorly with families and fostered a toxic workplace.

An external report commissioned by the district in 2024 did not substantiate allegations that Smith had fostered a toxic work environment. But a disability discrimination lawsuit filed in November by former volunteer and substitute teacher Sarah Heine has brought fresh attention to Smith’s leadership.

The suit alleges that Smith and other district administrators prevented Heine from working at the school because she uses a wheelchair. Heine had previously served as a substitute teacher and volunteered at Graham & Parks for more than a decade, according to court filings.

A January court filing included internal emails between Smith and other administrators in which Smith wrote that she had barred Heine from taking additional shifts at the school out of concern for her ability to maintain a “safe learning environment.” In one email, Smith noted that Heine was “in a wheelchair with significant mobility challenges.”

A judge earlier this year denied a CPS motion to strike portions of Heine’s complaint, allowing the case to proceed in full. CPS spokesperson Jaclyn Piques confirmed Smith’s contract renewal but declined to comment further on the lawsuit.

Smith’s return for the next academic year drew criticism from some parents and teachers across the district, several of whom raised concerns on a CPS parent email list about her remaining in the role.

Lilly Havstad, a Graham & Parks parent, resigned Thursday from the School Council — an advisory body made up of parents, teachers, and the principal at each school — as it became clear that Superintendent David G. Murphy would renew Smith’s contract.

In her resignation letter, Havstad wrote that she could not continue working with Smith “based on what the lawsuit reveals about her and her values,” adding that Smith had fractured the school community with “no pathway to healing in sight.”

“To block Sarah Heine from subbing and volunteering in our school on the grounds that she is in a wheelchair does not align with our school’s values. It does not align with mine,” she wrote.

In a separate email to the parent list, Havstad wrote that Smith is “causing more harm than good at our school.”

Smith did not respond to a request for comment.

Isabella C. Ehrlich, a Graham & Parks parent, said in an interview that the district’s limited communication about Smith’s leadership and the ongoing lawsuit has made it difficult for families to trust school leaders.

“Everyone is just adrift. Community is adrift,” Ehrlich said. “We feel uncomfortable around each other because some people have more information than others, and nobody quite knows who has the information or whether it’s accurate, and that’s not fair.”

Ehrlich said administrators have not given parents opportunities to ask questions or understand how decisions about the school’s leadership are being made. She added that the district has not explicitly addressed Heine’s lawsuit with parents since it was filed last year.

“Whether you like Dr. Smith or not, the district owes the community, the students, and the caregivers a conversation about what happens when a school is in this situation,” she said.

—Staff writer Jaya N. Karamcheti can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Tess E. Sumner can be reached at [email protected].