STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A change in leadership is on the way for students and staff at PS 3, Pleasant Plains, after the new principal was removed from the position last week.

According to a Friday letter from Staten Island District 31 Superintendent Dr. Roderick Palton, obtained by the Advance/SILive.com, the school community was notified of an “important leadership transition at PS 3.”

“We recognize that leadership changes can raise questions, and I want to assure you that our commitment to the students, staff, and families of PS 3 remains our top priority,” said Palton in the letter.

Joseph O’Brien was officially welcomed to the school community in a Sept. 8 letter from Palton. He replaced Elmer Myers, who retired after 10 years at the school.

According to concerned parents who reached out to the Advance/SILive.com, O’Brien was relieved of his duties last week. The city Department of Education confirmed O’Brien’s removal on Friday, though the agency did not provide a reason for the removal or if the move was permanent.

However, Friday’s letter stated that an acting principal will be assigned to the school “shortly” and will be communicated to families once finalized.

In the meantime, District 31 leadership will provide support to the school. Louis Bruschi, principal lead for strategic partnership and family and community engagement for District 31, was on site greeting families Tuesday morning.

“I want to thank the entire PS 3 community for your dedication, resilience, and partnership,” said Palton in the letter. “Your support and engagement are essential as we move forward together in this next chapter of PS 3.”

Several parents refused to comment Tuesday morning on the principal’s removal. However, one parent walking past a reporter said that parents are finding the situation “quite crazy.”

Another parent claimed that it was fellow parents who were the reason for O’Brien’s removal. Other parents expressed they didn’t know the principal had been removed.

“I don’t know exactly what happened,” said Siva Thambiah, who has two children at the school. “It’s not a good feeling … I didn’t have a good feeling from the beginning.”

Thambiah and another parent, Elena, who asked to only use her first name, noted that the former principal was always outside to greet students for arrival and dismissal.

“We had such stable management before. We all knew him. He was always meeting the kids in the morning, it was very good,” said Elena, about the former principal.

According to Palton’s letter to the school community last month, O’Brien had “more than two decades of dedicated service to New York City Public Schools” and was deputy superintendent in Brooklyn’s District 20 before his appointment at PS 3.

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