Glenfield Principal Who Resigned After BB Gun Incident Takes Job in Verona

The former Glenfield Middle School principal who resigned after an incident involving a student who brought a BB gun to school has taken a job at a neighboring district.

The Verona Board of Education approved the hiring of Charles "Charlie" Miller Tuesday night as the district’s new director of Instructional Studies. Miller will replace Elizabeth Jewett, who has accepted a position as Superintendent of Watchung Hills Regional Schools, according to Watchung-Green Brook Patch.

Miller was removed from Glenfield in late April while the district conducted an investigation of the incident. The district announced his resignation a few days later.

Montclair Schools Superintendent Penny MacCormack said at a special meeting called to address his resignation that Miller “made some significant errors" in response to finding a student with an imitation firearm on April 24. The “omissions” in Miller’s report of the incident “did not help me feel I could trust the leadership in the school any further,” MacCormack said at the time.

Parents in the district who supported the principal created a petition to have him reinstated. They obtained more than 480 supporters, but the effort was unsuccessful.

Miller confiscated the imitation gun and defused the situation soon after another student told him about the gun, MacCormack said publicly. However, she said, Miller did not contact police nor share “pertinent information and critical facts” with her until two days later. 

As director of Instructional Studies for Verona, Miller will be charged with among other things helping to finalize and implement a new five-year strategic plan. 

"I was a principal for the last five years. I look at this as a step in the right direction," Miller told the Verona Board of Education Tuesday.

"I am always looking to learn and grow so I can’t wait to get started," he said.