A Cherry Hill assistant principal’s contract was not renewed. His students walked out of class in protest.
Nearly 600 people have signed a petition in support of assistant principal David Francis-Maurer.
Students poured through the doors of Cherry Hill High School East on Monday morning during a student-organized walkout following the news that assistant principal David Francis-Maurer’s contract would not be renewed for the coming school year.
The demonstration took place around 9:45 a.m. after state testing. A few hundred students walked out of the school building and onto the athletic field.
Francis-Maurer, called “DFM” by students, was hired in 2023 to be the assistant principal for the incoming ninth-grade class, now sophomores. Prior to working in Cherry Hill, he was a math teacher and administrator in the Boston area and in the United Kingdom.
An attorney for Francis-Maurer confirmed that the assistant principal’s contract was not renewed and that the nonrenewal was involuntary.
At the walkout, Cherry Hill school district administrators redirected all questions to the district’s public information officer. The district did not respond to further questions about Francis-Maurer’s contract or the student protest.
In a 2023 interview with Eastside Online, the Cherry Hill High School East newspaper, Francis-Maurer called it a “privilege to be able to see [the class] through the four years.”
“I would hope that everybody who I work with has felt that I make a positive contribution to their ability to do their job, right? That they feel listened to, that they feel seen, that they feel respected,” Francis-Maurer said in the interview.
A petition to save Francis-Maurer’s job, organized by sophomore Leah Molavi, had garnered nearly 600 signatures by Monday afternoon.
“[Francis-Maurer] is the kindest person I’ve ever met. He is always seen walking in the halls with a smile on his face. He always shows respect and appreciation for his colleagues and always shows dedication to helping students be their best at Cherry Hill East,” one petitioner commented.
Another wrote: “I am at a complete loss as to how anyone could even consider not renewing [Francis-Maurer’s] contract. He is a rare and extraordinary presence in these students’ lives — a steady, compassionate force in one of the most challenging times of their development. From the moment I met him Freshman year, I felt a deep sense of relief knowing someone so genuine, insightful, and committed was watching over our kids."