What happens when conflicts erupt in the hallways of a beloved educational institution? If the school in question is one where many attendees come from affluent backgrounds and have gone on to do high-profile work, that conflict just might end up having an audience far outside of the school’s hallways. Such was the case last year, when a dispute at Brooklyn’s Grace Church School became the subject of a fascinating article at The Cut.
And now, across the East River and a little bit north, another highly-touted private school finds itself at the center of an uneasy conflict. Writing at Air Mail, William D. Cohan takes the reader inside the world of St. Bernard’s School, an exclusive all-boys school located on the Upper East Side. Alumni include storied writers like George Plimpton and Peter Matthiessen, Zagat Survey founder Tim Zagat, Parks and Recreation co-creator Greg Daniels and cult filmmaker Larry Fessenden.
As Cohan describes it, the conflict emerged when the school’s headmaster, Stuart Johnson III, announced that he would be stepping down from his position after 35 years, and leaving a question of who would succeed him. Cohan notes that Johnson’s approach to learning played a significant part in his appeal:
In a time when every private school seems to be in a race to throw over its curriculum in favor of adding classes in coding and Mandarin, St. Bernard’s stands resolute in its mission to give boys an education rooted in the classics. It’s a school that likes tradition. And a headmaster’s lengthy tenure has been part of that.
His appeal to some, anyway. The question of whether Johnson was leaving under his own volition or was being pushed out sparked a conflict between the school’s board and a group of parents — both of whom include a number of wildly successful people. Attempting to broker a piece are the “Old Boys” — a group of well-connected alumni.
What happens when you take a group of very successful people and put them at odds with other very successful people in a situation where ambiguous arguments rule the day? That’s the situation that Cohan neatly describes. And it’s one that could escalate to a much higher level before long: the New York State Attorney General’s Office has begun its own investigation, suggesting we haven’t heard the last of this conflict.
Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
