EDUCATION
More Fallout Over Removal of School’s LGBTQ Mural
City Councilmember Daniel Dromm is calling for administrators to step down
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Community members and
politicians are outraged
after vandals spraypainted
“All Lives Matter
Not Just Black” on the sidewalk of
P.S. 295 in Brooklyn on September
27 following the school’s decision
to remove a mural celebrating the
LGBTQ community.
Over the summer, a New York
Daily News report indicated that
administrators — including principal
Lisa Pagano; superintendent
Anita Skop; and Frank Giordano,
the principal of the neighboring
New Voices Middle School — were
not on board with a student-led
mural at P.S. 295 at 330 18th
Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The
mural included messages such as
“Black Trans Lives Matter” and
“Your Silence Will Not Protect You,”
but offi cials claimed it was not
“welcoming” or “inclusive.” Giordano
felt “attacked” by a quote from
Audre Lorde, according to the Daily
News, and Pagano — with Skop’s
approval — sought to replace the
mural with a vague “hate has no
home here” message.
In response, angry parents
chalked “BLM” on the sidewalk
to protest the school’s decision,
prompting retaliatory messages. According
to images obtained by Gay
City News, vandals then defaced
the sidewalk with messages such
as “All Lives Matter Not Just Black.”
In another statement, the perpetrators
Parents are outraged after vandals wrote racist messages on a sidewalk months after school administrators
removed a mural celebrating diversity.
Vandals scribbled over “BLM” and other inclusive racial justice messages on September 27.
scribbled “Domestic Terrorists”
alongside the slogan “BLM.”
Allyssa Lamb, a parent of a
third-grader at P.S. 295, said the
vandalization added fuel to an already
ELTON DODSON UEOKA
ELTON DODSON UEOKA
controversial situation.
“It was a shock,” Lamb told Gay
City News. “To see pastel sidewalk
chalk pasted over in black with a
racist slogan was unsettling because
it’s right in front of the school
where our kids go.”
Lamb also said administrators
were slow to remove the disruptive
phrases before children saw it.
“It’s keeping with how they’ve
been responding to everything.
There has been poor communication
between parents and the administration,
and I feel like they
are trying to lay low and avoid
dealing with it.”
Lamb, who has an older child
who is transgender, blasted Pagano
for wanting to remove messages
about Black and transgender
individuals.
“It really spells out exactly how
she feels,” Lamb said. “She feels
uncomfortable with naming the
Black community and the trans
community, and I fi nd it really out
of step with the students and the
families at the school.”
She added, “I feel the administration
is from another world, and
they are not keeping up.”
In the wake of the incident, out
gay City Councilmember Daniel
Dromm of Queens ripped the
school’s action as “avoidable.”
“It’s disgraceful,” Dromm told
Gay City News. “It’s discriminatory.
The principals and the superintendent
should resign or be removed
from their positions.”
Dromm called on the Department
of Education (DOE) to look
into this incident.
“It’s particularly disheartening
that they are not listening to the
parents’ concerns who are supportive
of the mural,” he said, referring
to the school. “As for the
graffi ti that is outside, of course,
that is going to happen when you
allow the removal of the mural to
occur. The DOE needs to be clear
that the removal of the mural is in
violation of the law.”
On September 29, out gay Councilmember
Carlos Menchaca of
Brooklyn and the Mural Justice
Project, an advocacy group created
in response to the controversy, led
a virtual town hall to hold administrators
accountable for removing
the artwork.
A DOE spokesperson said in
a written statement that school
safety is investigating the incident
and they are working with a local
NYPD precinct.
“Every student deserves a safe,
welcoming space to learn, and in
no uncertain terms, we condemn
the defacing of sidewalks around
the school,” the DOE spokesperson
told Gay City News. “We are assisting
the schools to come to a resolution,
convening mediations, and
will take disciplinary action as appropriate
following the outcome of
the investigation.”
Lisa Pagano, the principal of P.S.
295, did not immediately respond to
Gay City News’ request for comment.
October 7 - October 20, 2 6 021 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
