A Pennsylvania school principal who accidentally left an antisemitic voice message for a Jewish parent was voted to be terminated on Tuesday night by the Wissahickon School District.
The school district voted unanimously to fire Lower Gwynedd Elementary School Principal Phillip Leddy during a Tuesday special board meeting, replacing him with Susan Kanopka as interim principal.
Board member and School director Dan Strauss said just before the vote that as a Jewish community member, he was pleased that the school district had responded quickly to the incident, "leaving no room for doubt that antisemitism has no place in our district."
Strauss said the parent who received the offending voice message also reported feeling supported by the district.
Superintendent Mwenyewe Dawan said in a Friday letter that Leddy admitted he had left a message for a parent, made antisemitic comments, and spoke disparagingly about the parent to another staff member, believing the call had disconnected.
'They control the banks,' principal allegedly says
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said that Leddy had referred to "Jew Camp" and "Jew money," asserting that the "odds probably are good" that the parent was a lawyer.
“They [Jews] control the banks,” Leddy allegedly said.
Dawan said on Friday that the district was taking immediate action to initiate the process to seek Leddy's termination following an informal private hearing last Monday. The district is reportedly investigating other staff involved in the incident.
"We are deeply concerned about the impact this will have on our school community, and in particular the Jewish members of our community, and we want to be strongly and immediately clear that antisemitism will not be tolerated," Dawan said in his statement. "Our number one priority is to create a safe environment for our students. We recognize that earlier today the trust in creating this environment was compromised."
The Jewish Federation thanked Dawan for his efforts but noted that the incident was indicative of a broader systemic issue, as others in the room didn't challenge him.
"Words spoken behind closed doors matter. When those words reflect bias, they erode trust and harm entire communities," said the federation.
The Federation requested that the district provide more education on antisemitism, provide transparency in the investigation, and engage directly with the community.