Queens Principal Lashes Out At Haitian Parents

When Saintpierre and Claizile Silien, Haitian immigrants who don't speak English, saw their youngest son's bad grades on his 4th grade report card, they decided to bring their teenage daughters as interpreters and speak to the principal at PS 135. But daughter Sredeline Silien said principal George Hadjoglou wasn't just indifferent, but outright offensive to their family. She told NY1 Hadjoglou said, "You need to get out of my school. Take your son home. It's not my problem that he has issues. I don't give a f--ck about you all. Ya'll Haitians think you can come in and do anything in my school. No. This is my school."

Sredeline's sister, Jeansline, attempted to reason with the principal, who responded, "If you don't like the way I'm talking, the door's right there and you can get the hell out." At one point during the argument their mother became so emotional she fainted of an apparent panic attack. Witnesses claim the family was thrown out, but the Department of Education says the family was threatening the principal. Jeansline admits to talking back to the principal once her mother fainted, saying, "This is your fault. You didn't have to scream, everyone was speaking calmly and then you started screaming." Hadjoglou allegedly did not respond, but ordered others to call 911.

Mrs. Sillen was taken to the hospital, and Mr. Sillen was admitted as well after complaining of heart pain. Their son returned to school, where he is repeating the 4th grade, and sadly, has been blaming the whole situation on himself. He said, "My sisters called me from the hospital and then I was crying a lot."

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By Jaya Saxena in News on September 14, 2010 1:45 PM

Comments [rss]

fishbone

Wunder what the parents do for a living?

billyjack44

Is it just me, or did school JUST start? What's with a report card already? Anyways, sounds like a case of the kid being dumb as a box of rocks.

Mr Mel

What the inner city generations don't understand is, that without a command of the language and its proper use, they don't have a chance.

just saying

Is it ever a good idea to have your *teenagers* act as translators for you at a school conference? What do you think could go wrong with that? LOL

Why didn't the school provide an independent and impartial translator--perhaps even someone from the PTA?

Dogsbody

I agree it's a ridiculous idea to have teenagers act as translators for the parents, for several obvious reasons.

However, I think it's equally dumb to expect the school to provide a translator. There are 200+ languages out there, are we expected to have capable translators in each and every language for every parent who hasn't learnt English. The responsibility is on the parents to speak English.

(p.s. my wife also had to act as translator for her own non-English speaking parents at parent-teacher meetings when she was a teenager).

m015094

Wait a minute...I thought only arrogant Americans went (and lived) in other countries and then expected the native population to cater to the English language.

Ugly American ---> Ugly Haitian

John L

I really want to believe that this is not true and a school principal would not talk and act like that.

Dogsbody

The quotation above is the teengage daughter's recollection of what the teacher said, so I think it's a very approximate paraphrasing at best.

exnyer

Time to get out the VooDoo doll and a few pins.

Guest

So the parents barely speak English and they don't understand why their child is failing at a school in a country where, for the most part, English is the first language? We need Encyclopedia Brown on the case.

rasputinsghost

you do realize that the article indicates that their teenager daughters are fluent in english right

i dunno if you took the time to actually think about things you say before you shit on immigrants

Guest

You can kiss my ass as far as immigrants are concerned. I don't care that the daughter can speak English well, the other kid is apparently having problems. The point was his barely English speaking parents can't help him as much as English speaking parents can. If you want to bring their immigrant status into this, that's on you, not me.

Spirit of 76

Well... to be fair, I wouldn't exactly say, "fluent." If you watch the video, they sound like typical inner city teens, which I wouldn't consider good English. But nevertheless, they can easily pass for American kids. And agreed, HowBoutDemCowboys reveals an ugly and ignorant racism that puts him in the esteemed company of people like m015094 below.

m015094

If these people were French and they pulled the same shit of refusing to learn the language of the country they were living in - I'd say the same thing. So, please explain to me how RACE has anything to do with this. It's about language and being able to effectively communicate - not about race.

Spirit of 76

Sure, you would. Please point out anywhere in the article where it said language was a barrier or a problem. Face it, you're as xenophobic as the principal. Ugly American, indeed.

Guest

You can also kiss my ass as far as racism is concerned. I'm not a racist, I'm a pragmatist. The kid is having problems in a school in a country that English is the first language. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why. If you want to bring race into this, that's on you, not me. If I'm a racist, explain to me why I can't stand white people like you more than anyone else on the planet (I'm white, in case you didn't know).