The former principal of Eastlawn Elementary School is asking a superior court judge to reverse the Alamance-Burlington school board’s decision this spring not to renew her employment contract and to order ABSS to reinstate her to her former position, or a similar one.
Syeda Smith-Williams was originally hired as an assistant principal at Graham High School, effective August 1, 2023, based on a personnel report that the school board voted to approve during a special-called meeting on July 11, 2023.
The school board subsequently hired Smith-Williams in February 2024 as the principal at Eastlawn Elementary School, according to the personnel report that the board voted to approve at the time, which listed the effective date for her new position as “to be determined.” She was notified of the school board’s decision not to renew her contract on May 29 of this year, according to the petition that Smith-Williams filed in superior court in late June.
According to her petition, she was notified of her nonrenewal via a “punitive memo” that had been hand-delivered on March 2, 2026, which Smith-Williams alleges was the result of “an extensive, targeted internal investigation designed solely to discredit [her] and label her untruthful….”…