Parent Takes Private School Clash To The Next Level On Twitter

New York City’s Trinity School is America’s number one prep school. The institution is 300 years old, and, like most tony private schools, likes to keep any scandals, squabbles or controversies private. But as Nick Summers writes for The Daily Beast, the administration is facing an embarrassingly public dispute.

Seema Kalia’s daughter is a second grader at Trinity. Kalia — a law school graduate and former TV host — had some kind of argument with a school staffer, and told Trinity that she believed the woman had “false credentials.” (Apparently the woman was being called a doctor when she was not.) The school didn’t like that, didn’t agree, and asked Kalia to stop talking about the school. Then:

In December Trinity chose not to offer a kindergarten spot to the family’s young son-and things got nasty from there. The parents furiously protested. Kalia says that school officials dissed her at faculty meetings, and waged a “horrible kind of hate campaign” against her. The school says that in January, Kalia, who is of Indian descent, wrote emails to fellow parents accusing the school staffer of “racism and incompetence”; claiming that the family was withholding a large financial gift until the woman’s firing; and describing Trinity’s board as “overt bully unintelligent racists.”

Soon afterward, Kalia’s daughter was notified that she would be expelled. She is finishing the school year, according to Kalia, “but only if they don’t decide they don’t like us before then, in which case they reserve the right to yank her out of class at whim.”

In the old days, a problem like this would be whispered about between parents, but Kalia has taken to Twitter, Facebook and Urban Baby with her various accusations.
For instance:

So in the end, it turned out they’re not racist. They were just felons engaged in a multi-million $ cover-up. What a relief!

And:

40 school trustees (13 voting) took $2M in free tuitions for their kids from a financially strapped kids, among other comp. won’t disclose.

And:

Did I mention that Trinity school is missing 40 scholarship spots since those lunkhead Trustees took over two years ago? Guess who got them

Kalia has dozens of angry and mysterious accusations about the school, and seems to be devoting quite a bit of time trying expose something. Without knowing all the facts, it’s tough to say whether this is a case of a snobby school getting its comeuppance — or a parent gone bonkers. But when getting into the right grade school affects getting into the right high school and then the right college, a mother’s fears and anxieties can be heightened, or veer out of control. Luckily, Kalia’s last Tweet reads:

Don’t worry, I haven’t changed – But I’m taking a social media break…

What’s Really Behind the Prep-School Mom’s Twitter Meltdown [The Daily Beast]