Head of $52k Dwight Englewood prep school in New Jersey resigns after staff criticized use of CRT

The controversial head of an elite New Jersey prep school scandalized by its use of Critical Race Theory in the classroom has abruptly resigned.

Rodney De Jarnett, who led the $52,000-per-annum Dwight-Englewood School in Bergen County, has left his post 'effective immediately' amid an investigation into conduct out of step with the school's 'values and standards of behavior'.

Administrators said in an email to parents: 'We want to assure our school community that the identified conduct did not involve our students.' 

'The [Board of Trustees] cannot provide additional information because of the confidential nature of the independent investigation.'

The unexpected resignation comes less than a year after a former English teacher at Dwight-Englewood blasted the school for teaching Critical Race Theory in the classroom and using it to create 'hostile culture of conformity and fear' in her resignation letter.

Dana Stangel-Plowe said that white and male students were taught to believe that they were 'oppressors' while shouting down their objections.

Rodney De Jarnett, who led the $52,000-per-annum Dwight-Englewood School in Bergen County, has left his post 'effective immediately' amid an investigation into conduct out of step with the school's 'values and standards of behavior'

Former English teacher Dana Stangel-Plowe blasted the school for teaching Critical Race Theory in the classroom and using it to create 'hostile culture of conformity and fear' in her resignation letter

The upmarket Dwight-Engelwood School, one mile from the Hudson River and two miles from Manhatten. Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and CNBC broadcaster Andrew Ross Sorkin are among those who sent their children there

De Jarnett (pictured) was reported to have told the entire faculty that he would fire everyone if he could to replace them with people of color

'The school's ideology requires students to see themselves not as individuals, but as representatives of a group, forcing them to adopt the status of privilege or victimhood,' she wrote to administrators.

'As a result, students arrive in my classroom accepting this theory as fact: People born with less melanin in their skin are oppressors, and people born with more melanin in their skin are oppressed. Men are oppressors, women are oppressed, and so on.' 

Rodney De Jarnett was controversial among teachers and parents for his unswerving allegiance to tenets of Critical Race Theory, a controversial theory which purports to tackle the deep-rooted nature of racism in US society but opponents argue merely perpetuates it or flips it on its head. 

Stangel-Plowe said De Jarnett told the entire faculty that he would fire everyone if he could to replace them with people of color. 

She also accused the school of segregating teachers by their skin color - and said students were also made to segregate themselves 'within the oppressor or oppressed group. 

The mother of one student at the school told The Post some parents wondered why De Jarnett wasn't ousted last year amid reports of critical race theory being taught in classrooms. 

The controversial head had previously announced plans to retire in June 2023 after 16 years leading the Dwight-Engelwood school.

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and CNBC broadcaster Andrew Ross Sorkin are among those who sent their children there. 

The Englewood, New Jersey-based school is the latest flashpoint in a raging debate over school curriculums that now include controversial 'anti-racist' and critical race theory. 

He also accused the school of segregating teachers by their skin color - and said students were also made to segregate themselves 'within the oppressor or oppressed group

Stangel-Plowe accused the school, pictured, of segregating teachers by their skin color pondered if the school would start to racially segregate its students

Dana Stangel-Plowe resigned from her job teaching at a private school after condemning its decision to teach students' critical race theory, and did so via a video statement and email

Dana Stangel-Plowe received support after she resigned from the school from John McWhorter, an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, who is a frequent critic of anti-racism ideology. 

'All hail Dana Stangel-Plowe, who has resigned from the Dwight-Englewood School, which teaches students 'antiracism' that sees life as nothing but abuse of power, and teaches that cringing, hostile group identity against oppression is the essence of a self,' McWhorter tweeted. 

The academic is also a distinguished journalist, who serves as a contributing editor at The Atlantic magazine. 

'Truly antiracist parents, in the name of love of their kids, should pull them from the Dwight-Englewood school as of next fall. Only this will arrest these misguided Elect parishioners from their quest to forge a new reality for us all,' he added.

Stangel-Plowe herself retweeted McWhorter's praise.

She wrote in her resignation letter: 'I became a teacher at Dwight-Englewood because, as a parent, I loved how the school both nurtured and challenged my own children. 

'Today, I am resigning from a job I love because D-E has changed in ways that undermine its mission and prevent me from holding true to my conscience as an educator,' she wrote.

'I believe that D-E is failing our students. Over the past few years, the school has embraced an ideology that is damaging to our students' intellectual and emotional growth and destroying any chance at creating a true community among our diverse population.'

CRITICAL RACE THEORY: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? 

The fight over critical race theory in schools has escalated in the United States over the last year.

The theory has sparked a fierce nationwide debate in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protest and the introduction of the 1619 Project.

The 1619 Project, which was published by the New York Times in 2019 to mark 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived on American shores, reframes American history by 'placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the center of the US narrative'.

The debate surrounding critical race theory regards concerns that some children are being indoctrinated into thinking that white people are inherently racist or sexist.

Those against critical race theory have argued it reduces people to the categories of 'privileged' or 'oppressed' based on their skin color.

Supporters, however, say the theory is vital to eliminating racism because it examines the ways in which race influence American politics, culture and the law.

She added: 'I reject the hostile culture of conformity and fear that has taken hold of our school.'

She said that not all students are 'true believers' and claimed that many pretend to agree 'because of pressure to conform.'  

'I've heard from students who want to ask a question but stop for fear of offending someone. I have heard from students who don't participate in discussions for fear of being ostracized,' Stangel-Plowe wrote.

Critical race theory teaches that racism is a social construct used to oppress people of color, and that it is present in almost all aspects of everyday life.

Its supporters say the theory helps illuminate the obstacles faced by BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color) individuals in their everyday lives, that their white counterparts do not have to worry about. 

The teaching of critical race theory has become a cultural lightning rod in recent months, particularly when taught in schools. Critics claim it is unnecessarily divisive, and teaches children that they are either victims or oppressors from an early age. 

It was not immediately clear when the Dwight-Englewood School began teaching critical race theory, but the school has previously faced race-related scandals.

In 2019, the school removed and investigated a student for a racist and anti-Semitic 'hate' messages scribbled in the stalls of a boys' bathroom, De Jarnett said in a statement obtained by NorthJersey.com.

After the school started teaching critical race theory, Stangel-Plowe claimed that one student even did not want to finish a personal essay about an experience she had in a foreign country over fears the essay would be racist.

President of the board of trustees at Dwight-Engelwood Rob Miller said that counselling services would be offered to faculty, staff and students in the wake of De Jarnett's early exit.

'Although this transition is occurring sooner than expected, we want to assure you the school is well positioned for the future,' Miller wrote, adding that a new head of school will be named within weeks. 'We look forward to a bright future for Dwight-Engelwood.' 

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