A petition demanding the removal of Exeter-West Greenwich Senior High School Principal Kristen Stringfellow has gathered more than 400 signatures, as parents and students in West Greenwich, Rhode Island say the school's atmosphere has grown tense since she took over the top job this year. Students planned a walkout Wednesday to protest her leadership, and the Exeter-West Greenwich School Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 6 p.m.
The online petition, created on Change.org, says it achieved its goal with support from 410 people. According to the petition, which names the Exeter-West Greenwich School Board as its recipient, the atmosphere changed drastically under the leadership of the new principal. Student Gemma Thornley told WJAR that students felt uncomfortable with the new principal, and that students should not have to feel scared in their school environment.
Stringfellow served as interim principal at the high school last school year before taking over the role full-time this year, per the station's report. Students told WJAR they felt belittled and spoken down to by Stringfellow. The district's own contact page for the school lists her as Dr. Kristen Stringfellow, Interim Principal, according to Exeter-West Greenwich's website.
Superintendent Says Hiring Committee Was Unanimous
Exeter-West Greenwich Superintendent James Erinakes told WJAR that a committee of staff, parents and students unanimously selected Stringfellow for the senior high school position. Erinakes said he had heard only positive, usually unsolicited, reports until recently, and that the petition surprised him, per the same account. He did not directly answer the station's question about why Stringfellow was hired, the report notes.
Erinakes met with students earlier this month to hear their concerns ahead of the planned walkout. He said students could also speak during a voluntary Knight Time session Wednesday before the scheduled walkout, and that the school did not want students to face disciplinary or academic consequences for walking out of class, according to the station's report. Thornley, however, said some students felt they did not have enough time to share their concerns and did not have enough time to speak during that meeting.
A Contested Record in Connecticut
Before arriving in Rhode Island, Stringfellow previously served as superintendent of Norwich Public Schools in Connecticut. She was placed on leave in 2023 following teacher complaints and a school climate survey, and the Norwich Board of Education voted to place her on paid administrative leave effective immediately while it investigated personnel complaints and concerns about her performance and conduct, according to NBC Connecticut.
Reports on the climate survey's findings vary. NBC Connecticut reported that nearly 100 percent of teachers in Norwich feared retaliation if they spoke up about workplace issues, while WTNH separately reported that a climate survey at the time found 96 percent of teachers feared retaliation. Teacher departure figures also differ between outlets: NBC Connecticut reported that 160 teachers had left since the previous June, describing it as roughly half the district's teacher population, while WTNH reported that more than 160 teachers had left the district since June 2022 as of September 2023.
About 150 students, parents and staff rallied at a Norwich Board of Education meeting calling for action against an alleged climate of fear and retaliation, WTNH reported in a separate article. The Norwich Board of Education had not reached a conclusion on allegations of misconduct by Stringfellow at that time, per the same outlet. She ultimately resigned from Norwich Public Schools effective Jan. 1, 2025, and WTNH reported that the investigation into personnel complaints remained incomplete, without any findings or conclusions, when she left.
A Similar Petition Surfaced in South Kingstown
Stringfellow's tenure has drawn scrutiny beyond Connecticut and Exeter-West Greenwich. A petition asking the South Kingstown School Committee not to renew her superintendent contract had garnered nearly 100 signatures as of a Wednesday, according to The Independent. Stringfellow said at the time that she had just finished the first year of a three-year contract with the South Kingstown school department, and a South Kingstown school committee press release highlighted her selection as the 2017 Rhode Island Superintendent of the Year, per the same report.
With the Exeter-West Greenwich School Committee set to meet Tuesday and students planning a Wednesday walkout, the dispute over Stringfellow's leadership is now playing out in a third Rhode Island or Connecticut school community in recent years. No outcome of the upcoming committee meeting had been determined at the time of this report.
