Administrative shakeups follow Cherry Hill School District lawsuit
The East Windsor Regional School District rescinded a job offer made to a Cherry Hill principal at the center of an anti-discrimination lawsuit. An interim successor has been named in Cherry Hill.
The fallout from a lawsuit accusing the Cherry Hill school board and top administrators of discrimination and retaliation is continuing, with changes for both Cherry Hill and the former principal at the center of the lawsuit.
The Cherry Hill school board last week appointed an interim principal at Cherry Hill High School East to replace Daniel Finkle, who tendered his resignation last month. The board selected Leslie Walker, effective immediately. She’ll serve in the role until the end of June 2026.
Walker was previously the superintendent of the Mount Ephraim Public Schools and served as an administrator in the Berlin Township Public Schools. She worked in the Cherry Hill school district from 1998 to 2005 as an assistant principal and teacher at Henry C. Beck Middle School and as a teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School.
Meanwhile, the East Windsor Regional School District has rescinded a job offer made to Finkle, Walker’s predecessor, who was set to become principal of Hightstown High School in November. An email sent to the East Windsor community by Superintendent Mark Daniels on Sept. 30 said that the school board “approved the recommendation to rescind the recent appointment of the Hightstown High School Principal.” The Mercer County school district is reopening the search for a new high school principal, according to the email.
Days before Finkle resigned from Cherry Hill, he, alongside the Cherry Hill Board of Education and two other top administrators, was named in a lawsuit alleging that the district subjected David Francis-Maurer, a former assistant principal, to discrimination and retaliation. The lawsuit alleges that Francis-Maurer was unlawfully placed on administrative leave and, later dismissed, after blowing the whistle on discriminatory behavior and failures to follow safety protocols.
In an email, Finkle called Francis-Mauer’s lawsuit “baseless” and containing “lies.”
Finkle said, “ … while I cannot convince Hightstown to change its mind and risk a problem with its students’ families, I look forward to filing a detailed answer refuting the lies that Dr. Francis-Maurer has told through his attorney.”
Dennis Vinson, Hightstown’s current principal who had been set to retire, has agreed to extend his time with the district while it searches for a replacement, the district’s email said.
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