The head of Ethical Culture Fieldston School, one of the city’s most exclusive private schools, stepped down Thursday — a day after The Post reported on tensions between parents over the war in Israel.
The school said in a statement Joe Algrant was departing after two years to “pursue other personal and professional goals and opportunities.”
Algrant, who made a $404,700 base salary, according to the latest tax filings by the school, had worked there for 17 years as an educator and administrator until 2002 then returned to take the top job 20 years later.
Algrant has presided over the school during an especially fraught time as relations between Jewish parents and students and those who oppose Israel’s war in Gaza have reached a crisis point since the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas.
Parents of Jewish children at the $63,000-per-year school have been upset by incidents including anti-Israel graffiti on campus and one student was tormented by classmates with names like “ethnic cleanser” and “colonizer” and witnessed a teacher giving a middle finger to a rabbi, according to his mother.
Others, like “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin — whose two children graduated from Fieldston — say they are “antiwar” and pupils have been unfairly punished for expressing support for Palestinian people.
Hostin, 55, was among more than 100 signatories of a letter sent to the school July 7, which complained in part about “unequal discipline, unfair treatment and biased standards we perceive our children to be subjected to at [the school] since the resumption of war in the Middle East.”
“We the undersigned parents of color, parents of students of color expect the school to meet with us, treat us with respect, and come to transparent resolutions that reflect the best efforts of the entire community, instead of the loudest efforts of part of it,” the letter, signed by Christian, Muslim, Jewish and LGBTQ parents and alumni, added.
The letter stemmed from the suspension and expulsion of a young Afro Caribbean student from the school.
Although Fieldston wouldn’t give the official reason for the expulsion, the signers of the letter linked it to the student wearing a dress that featured a Palestinian flag and the words “Free Palestine.”
Fieldston has been struck with both pro-Palestinian protests and cries of antisemitism by Jewish parents for many months.
One former parent called the school “a hotbed of Jew-hate and these terror-supporting students” in an Instagram post, following demonstrations.
A group of Jewish Fieldston families and alumni wrote a “Stop Antisemitism” letter to administrators on May 19 with a list of 10 demands to make the school safer for their kids.
Two parents reported the school had not responded in any way to the May demand letter.
After protests heated up this spring, Fieldston students began joining “affinity groups” according to their racial, religious and cultural identities, resulting in conflict, according to sources.
Algrant said his tenure as head of school “has been an unforgettable experience that has pushed and pulled me to new levels of challenge and fulfillment,” in the statement announcing his departure.
