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player ready...Months after its former top administrators were abruptly fired — prompting student protests, investigations and a defamation lawsuit — Lincoln Park High School has a new principal.
In a letter to the school community, Local School Council chair Gary Rovner announced that after “a long and, at times, difficult process,” the council offered a four-year contract to Eric Aron Steinmiller, who, “pending completion of some paperwork and other onboarding matters,” will take over as principal Monday.
Steinmiller was assistant principal at Roosevelt High School in Albany Park.
“We are confident that Dr. Steinmiller will bring to bear his considerable experience as a teacher, coach and administrator, a love of education, a heartfelt sense of fairness and a deep wellspring of enthusiasm to the job,” Rovner wrote. “We can’t wait to get back to doing the regular work of LPHS with him.”
Before the coronavirus pandemic shut down schools across Illinois, Lincoln Park High was engulfed in widespread controversy that saw several administrators and coaches removed from their posts and multiple internal investigations looking into alleged misconduct by staff and students and the handling of those allegations.
On Jan. 31, interim Principal John Thuet and Assistant Principal Michelle Brumfield were abruptly fired, and they have since jointly sued the district, claiming deprivation of due process, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
It was just last August that the LSC voted unanimously to offer Thuet the one-year interim principal position, replacing the outgoing principal who was promoted to chief of another school network.
Thuet hired Brumfield, and both “were enthusiastically received” by the school community, according to the lawsuit: “In just five short months, they made great strides in building a sense of school community and culture.” Thuet was interviewing with the LSC for the permanent principal position.
A parent on the council, Dave Marren, said Thuet was one of three candidates interviewed days before his firing.
“The Friday when he was dismissed, it threw us all for a loop,” Marren said. “The chaos that ensued … we had interim principals who were tasked with basically trying to calm the school down.”
After early efforts to reinstate Thuet and Brumfield that showcased a power struggle between the LSC and Chicago Public Schools officials, the council reluctantly relaunched its principal search.
“We sadly realized that we needed to proceed with a principal search because we no longer trust CPS to do the right thing,” Marren said. “We were not going to get any quick resolution.”
Noting new candidates, including Steinmiller, emerged during the second round of the search, Marren added: “One of the ironic outcomes of this is that apparently a lot of good candidates were not considering (applying) because they knew John was doing a good job.”
Steinmiller was not immediately available for comment.
During interviews, candidates were asked about taking on a school that’s gone through such recent turmoil and how they’d address what had transpired.
“Dr. Steinmiller said that it was trauma and that it needed to be directly addressed,” Marren said. “His answer was the most eloquent and simple and empathetic answer that we heard.”
Steinmiller also struck Marren as the most like Thuet.
“He put us at ease in terms of that of all of the candidates, he most resembled John in the way he approached it,” Marren said. “The level of care he takes in trying to do his job … he’s just a good human.”
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The LSC took input from faculty and staff, students and others in making the decision to hire Steinmiller, Rovner wrote: “Please know that your input greatly assisted the LSC to reach a broad consensus choice for principal. This is an extraordinary institution and an extraordinary community. We are confident it is in good hands going forward.”