By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cocrhane last week decried “racism” in the school district, with his comments coming after a student this week “falsely” accused a black student of misconduct on account of his race., In a statement posted on the district website, Cochrane did not elaborate on what the racial bias incident dealt with. But one Princeton High School student, writing in the online Multi Magazine, indicated the matter had to do with drugs at John Witherspoon Middle School., Cochrane only wrote that the matter was investigated, “the black student was quickly exonerated” and “the student making the accusation received appropriate consequences.”, “Racism exists in our schools just as it does in our society,” he wrote. “As educators we would be naive to think that we could instantly eradicate it.”, Cochrane did not return phone messages seeking comment., PHS student Jamaica Ponder, however, wrote that a black student at the middle school was falsely accused in an incident involving the sale and distribution of marijuana brownies. In an online essay, she included what appeared to be text messages between the two students, with the wrongly accused black student asking the other student about the accusation., “Why would u tell ur mom I gave u brownies When I didn’t,” he wrote. “told me to he said they wouldn’t ask any questions Bc ur black,” the other students replied., “The excuse offered?” Ponder wrote. “Black kids’ guilt will not be questioned. Their involvement will be accepted and be believed by the administration without question.”, Ponder is the same student who exposed a Nazi-themed beer drinking game, involving PHS students, and wrote about another student posting a racial slur on social media. Her mother is former Princeton Mayor Michelle Tuck Ponder.
