A South Bronx principal has been accused of using school funds to help pay for her daughter's "Sweet 16" party. Liza Cruz Diaz, principal of Public School 31 on East 156th Street, is also accused of stealing nearly $5,000 more and messing with school records to hide her thefts. Jeez, why couldn't she have done things like a normal parent and just asked Nicki Minaj to perform as a favor? more ›

Last fall, officials investigated allegations that a Bronx high school principal had repeatedly harassed teachers by talking about his penis. Department of Education officials confirmed that Principal John Chase Jr. of Bronxdale High School made at least three remarks about oral sex to female staffers. But he was only disciplined with a letter of reprimand and sensitivity training. And now, fellow teachers and city officials are outraged that he still has his job: “The fact that he’s not being fired is insane,” one teacher told the News. “People are very uncomfortable around this guy. He needs to go.” more ›

Things are not looking good for Sharron Smalls, the principal of the troubled Jane Addams High School in the South Bronx. It was bad enough that her "persistently low-achieving" school got a terrible independent external review which recommended it be shut down—she's also become embroiled in a massive course credit scandal. Students have turned on her now too, accusing her of charging them for free parking. Oh, and they also plastered a scantily clad photo of her grinding with a half-naked man around the school. more ›

Officials are investigating allegations that a Bronx high school principal has repeatedly harassed teachers by talking about his penis. At least two female teachers have filed complaints about Bronxdale High School principal John Chase Jr., and one even filed a harassment report with the local police precinct because he, in the words of the Post, "proudly prattled about putting his Peter into school office orifices." As one angry staffer told them, “The fact that he’s still in the building is absurd. He keeps talking about his dick.” more ›

Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have been wrangling for months over how best to reform LIFO, the "last-in first-out" teacher firing policy. One such idea that has been proposed is for principals to be given more power with their recommendations as to who should be fired or not. But there's one downside to this: what if your principal is a crazy lunatic out to get you? more ›

A "mildly autistic" Staten Island teen says that he was body slammed by an assistant dean at his school, leaving his left leg broken in several places. Brian Shane said he got into a fight with two other boys during gym class earlier this week at South Richmond High School when assistant dean James McKeon intervened. His parents said that the dean "grabbed Brian around the chest and wrapped his leg around Brian’s leg. They both flew backward in what my son said was like an Ultimate Wrestling move." We suppose this is one way to guarantee a spot on the dean's list. more ›

The DOE have announced that they are planning on firing the Principal and Assistant Principal who were embroiled in a two-year long affair which came to an end in a hail of firing requests and death threats. "We are currently seeking to terminate both Principal Simmons and Assistant Principal Jones," for conduct believed to include sex during school hours, said DOE spokeswoman Barbara Morgan. But what do Principal Crystal Simmons' current and former husbands think? more ›

It's one thing for local schools to take away bake sales and ban lego guns. We can go along with those, even if they don't necessarily make a lot of sense. But what kind of learning Nazis would dare mess with sports? more ›

There's a certain type of bitter nerd who takes extreme pleasure in proving that they are smarter than their teachers. Based on an article today where they lace into a principal with terrible grammar, we take it that the Daily News was one of those nerds. Not that they don't have a point however: Principal Andrew Buck of the Middle School for Art and Philosophy wrote an incoherent, rambling mess of an email to staff, defending his policy of not providing textbooks. But, who the hell expects coherency from an art and philosophy manager! more ›

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." more ›

A former Bronx principal was fired from his new gig in Pleasantville after a state audit found he couldn't account for $90,000 in bake sale proceeds and other funds at John F. Kennedy High School, which was allegedly given to staffers. Anthony Rotunno resigned from Kennedy after findings surfaced, and had until August 1st to voluntarily resign his new position in Pleasantville. He didn't, and was fired. However, as per state Education Law, Pleasantville still has to pay him until his termination becomes effective on September 7th. Where are those government inefficiency reports when you need them? more ›

Today the City formally rejected an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission panel's finding of discrimination against former Arabic-English school principal Debbie Almontaser. The founder and principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn was asked to step down after making remarks about the word "intifada," but a lawyer for the city called the EEOC's determination "totally unfounded." According to the AP the city claims she resigned voluntarily. Still, The News reports that Almontaser supporters are urging the Justice Department to sue, based on the EEOC's determination that "race, religion, and national origin," motivated her ousting. more ›

The principal who punished and almost suspended a fourth-grader for playing with a LEGO-sized toy gun during lunch has apologized to the boy's family. "The principal called me and said, 'I'm sorry, I never meant for it to go this far,'" said the 9-year-old's mother, Laura Timoney, who has threatened to file suit over the incident. "She sounded upset ... I think she is sorry that this is happening. I wish she was sorry for Patrick." more ›

The mother of a 9-year-old who was reprimanded for playing with a tiny LEGO-sized toy gun during lunchtime might sue the principal who punished him. "This principal is a bully and a coward, and needs to be held accountable," said Laura Timoney, 44, whose son Patrick was brought to the principal's office, forced to sign a statement, and nearly suspended after being spotted playing with the miniature weapon. "The school should be embarrassed. This is a common-sense issue." more ›

Administrators at a Long Island school suspended a 10-year-old girl for bringing peppermint oil to class. A teacher's assistant at John Mandracchia-Sawmill Intermediate School in Commack spotted fifth grader Sara Greiner offering friends a few drops of the cooking extract. "I told them it was just peppermint. You could put it in your water," she told ABC. "No one ever told me that peppermint oil was illegal." Greiner was sent to the principal's office and issued a one-day suspension. The school declined to explain why she was punished, but in a letter to Greinier's mother, Corrine Morton-Greiner, the principal wrote "[s]uch inappropriate and unacceptable behavior cannot and will not be tolerated." Greiner's mother is now fighting to remove the suspension from her daughter's permanent record. "If a child offers a quarter of their peanut and jelly sandwich to another student is that student going to be suspended? Where do we draw the line?" the mother asked. more ›

"We got into a fight about him cheating on me. I cut him with a box cutter, and he punched me in the face," 41-year-old Lisa Gibbs told cops after she was arrested Oct. 30th. "I punched her in the face because I was defending myself when she tried to cut me with the box cutter," her husband Christopher Binns, 34, told police. There's not much more to add—except that Gibbs is also a public school principal at Brooklyn's School for Global Studies. The school might ring a bell if you recall the great laxative prank of 2008 that went so terribly wrong. more ›

It's understandable for a public school administrator to want a li'l drinky-poo after a hard day's work dealing with the kiddies, but driving to school sloshed? Those kids at IS 217 in the Bronx must be monsters! Assistant principal Melonie Lendor was arrested on the New York State Thruway in Rockland County at around 6:40 a.m. yesterday after other drivers called 911 because she was driving so erratically. Police say she failed a field sobriety test, but refused to take a Breathalyzer test. Worse: Her 10-month-old son was in the car. Still worse: This is her third drunken-driving bust. That means she's (finally) charged with felony driving while intoxicated and child endangerment. A seventh-grader at the school tells the Post, "No wonder we didn't see her today," but students should probably be used to that by now; a teacher tells the Daily News, "She was entirely missing from the school at times. She seems to make bad decisions." more ›

An elementary school principal in Harlem has formally apologized for sending a questionnaire to teachers asking them to classify disruptive students by race. But that's not good enough for parents of students at PS 96, which is 71 percent Hispanic and 26 percent black; they're calling for the resignation of Principal Dr. Claudia Moore-Hamilton (who is black). Among other things, the survey asked teachers to identify their problem students as "Black," "Hispanic" or "Other." In an apology letter to parents and faculty, Moore-Hamilton, who's been in charge for one year, acknowledged that her "approach was inflammatory," and the DOE issued a statement agreeing that "the survey was inappropriate." But Fox News reports an investigation is ongoing, and parents say they're fed up after a year filled with fights and students' failed attempts to burn the school down. According to the Post, Assemblyman Adam Powell IV has even chimed in, demanding her removal and citing complaints that she gave children Christmas presents, only to take them back from those on a "naughty" list. more ›

A public school principal in Fort Greene was arrested at P.S. 20 yesterday for allegedly assaulting a teacher during a meeting to discuss allegations of corporal punishment against a special ed teacher. Principal Sean Keaton has been the target of intense criticism from parents lately—many of them newer, more affluent arrivals to Fort Greene, who see him as authoritarian and resistant to parental involvement. According to The Local, "the community conversation about him often seemed to break down along class lines... with working-class parents defending him. There was often a racial component to the debate as well (Mr. Keaton is black)." more ›

Hundreds of Junior High School students, parents and teachers gathered for an angry protest outside JHS 8 in South Jamaica, Queens yesterday morning to call for the removal of controversial principal Dr. John Murphy (not pictured). Since taking over in 2005, Murphy has improved the school's rating from a D to a B, and the school just came off the state's list of failing schools. But yesterday protesters declared Murphy's management style abusive and intolerable. Music teacher David Butler tells Channel 7 News, "His office is used as a place of intimidation, where teachers come out crying and bang on walls. I've experienced that myself." more ›

The principal of a charter school located within the building that also houses the Dept. of Education has stepped down amid accusations that she was doctoring standardized test scores. more ›

Cardinal Hayes High School, says the allegations are “absolutely, positively 100% false." Officials have confirmed that Keogan’s hard drive was storing pictures of nude men and that since there were no minors depicted, Keogan does not face any criminal charges, though of course his career is destroyed. more ›

Gross! A former assistant principal at I.S. 72 in Staten Island is accused of asking a 12-year-old student for massages - and then trying to buy her and her mother's silence with promises of private school payment! Lawrence Siegel was put in a district office job - not his usual gig at Rocco Laurie Intermediate School - while the Department of Education investigated him after a DOE parent support coordinator, per the Staten Island Advance,... more ›