FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 23, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Photos by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
Chancellor faces criticism for failing to address children's safety
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
A Queens school district’s education
council expressed disappointment
over an abruptly
ended town hall meeting last
week with Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza.
Th e Jan. 16 event in Bayside
descended into near chaos when
Carranza failed to fully address
“the safety of our children” in
light of recent accusations of
sexual harassment and physical
altercations at M.S. 158, also in
Bayside.
Several parents confronted
the chancellor regarding these
issues, but were met with a slew
of unanswered questions.
“While some questions
addressing budget, family notifi -
cations, student concerns, curricula
development, staff resources
and support were posed to
the chancellor, unfortunately an
important and current pressing
topic in District 26 was not completely
addressed which is the
safety of our children,” read the
statement from CEC 26. “While
we applaud an open dialogue
for parents with the chancellor
about this topic, unfortunately
the chancellor chose to end the
meeting abruptly due to what he
felt as ‘safety concerns.’”
CEC 26 President Adriana
Aviles confi rmed to QNS last
week that it was the chancellor’s
decision to end the meeting.
Th ings became contentious aft er
a Bayside father requested “just
one minute” to share the story
of his daughter’s sexual assault at
the hands of a fellow classmate.
Audience members — including
one whom Aviles identifi ed
as a staff member to Councilman
Robert Holden — began yelling
over the father, urging the CEC
to “let him speak.”
While the CEC and Aviles herself
said that it was the chancellor’s
decision to end the meeting,
the Department of Education
replied with its own statement
saying that it was a collaborative
decision.
“Once it became clear the
town hall was no longer going
to be a productive conversation,
the DOE and CEC president
ended the meeting. As
always, every question asked is
going to be addressed,” said DOE
Spokesperson Miranda Barbot in
a statement.
In the wake of last Th ursday’s
meeting, M.S. 158 sent out a letter
to parents reminding them
of the “procedures, resources
and support available should
your child experience any kind
of troubling incident or crime at
school.”
Th e school identifi ed several
ways for parents to handle
such incidents including
reporting it to administration
and staff directly, using a complaint
form, reporting it online or
emailing the Offi ce of Safety and
Youth Development (OSYD) at
RespectforAll@schools.nyc.gov.
“Schools are required to report
such complaints in their Online
Occurrence Reporting System
(OORS). You can ask the school
administration for the incident
number for follow up. Th e school
Photos by Jenna Bagcal/QNS
will conduct an investigation and
will inform you of the outcome
of the investigation. If the investigation
fi nds that a student — or
students — have been bullying or
harassing your child, the school
will follow the process described
in the Discipline Code,” said M.S.
158 in a letter to parents.
Th e letter came only aft er
M.S. 158 parents like the father
whose daughter suff ered sexual
harassment and Katty Sterling
whose daughter was involved
in a physical altercation at M.S.
158 asserted that the school was
not doing enough to protect
their children.
Chancellor Richard Carranza at the Jan. 16 town hall.
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
A contentious education
town hall for District 26 parents
abruptly ended aft er about 40
minutes on Jan. 16 aft er Schools
Chancellor Richard Carranza
refused to address the father of a
teen who was sexually assaulted
at M.S. 158 in Bayside.
Hundreds of concerned
parents attended the standing
room-only event at M.S.
74 in Bayside, which began
with prewritten questions read
by members of Community
Education Council (CEC) 26.
But things took a turn aft er the
father called out from the crowd
requesting “just one minute” of
time to speak.
Th e crowd yelled “answer this
man,” and “let him speak,” urging
the CEC and chancellor to
give the parent time to express
his concerns. QNS spoke to the
father aft er the meeting, but we
are withholding his name to protect
the identity of his daughter.
“Th e school basically just covered
it up and all I wanted to do
was just talk. But I know they
wouldn’t let me talk,” he said. “It’s
just disconcerting.”
Queens elected offi cials representing
eastern Queens recently
collaborated on a letter to
Carranza demanding answers
about the recent troubles at M.S.
158.
According to the DOE, the
agency is currently taking steps
to retrain staff at the school and
communicate more eff ectively
with families. Th ey are also adding
more staff including safety
agents and counselors.
While the crowd continued to
jeer the chancellor, a CEC member
on the stage attempted to
speak over the crowd and ask the
next question to no avail.
“Th ese are questions from
our community and they will
be heard,” CEC 26 President
Adriana Aviles said as she held
up the public comment cards.
Outraged mother Katty
Sterling, whose daughter was
involved in a physical altercation
at M.S. 158 approached the stage
and said that “nobody is doing
anything” to reprimand the student
who instigated the fi ght.
“Th e other student is sitting in
school getting all the privileges
and what is my daughter doing?
Sitting at home, sick, getting
traumatized,” yelled Sterling.
Th e chancellor and CEC members
were seen conferring on
stage before Aviles announced
that the meeting would have to
cut the meeting short. Aviles told
QNS that the decision to end the
town hall was the Department of
Education’s decision and not the
decision of the CEC.
“Parents are our most important
partners, and the Chancellor
regularly meets with families
and elected offi cials for productive
dialogue, just as he did
in District 26 in both meetings
and a town hall last night. Th e
Chancellor addressed a wide
range of concerns and made it
clear he’s taking decisive action.
Once it became clear the town
hall was no longer
going to be a productive
conversation,
the DOE and
CEC President ended the meeting.
As always, every question
asked is going to be addressed,”
said DOE Spokesperson
Miranda Barbot in a statement.
Th e meeting showed early signs
of distress as parents “booed”
Carranza during his introduction.
Parents at the school’s
entrance held signs accusing
Carranza of being anti-Semitic
and anti-Asian, while other parents
wore shirts that read, “Save
the SHSAT.” When the town hall
ended, members of the crowd
chanted “fi re Carranza.”
Before the meeting was cut
short, questions for the chancellor
included how the DOE
would increase transparency
between schools and parents
during emergency situations
and what the organization was
doing to ensure schools get full
funding under the Fair Student
Funding program.
CEC 26 represents schools in
Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston,
Flushing, Floral Park, Bellerose,
Glen Oaks and Queens Village.
Bayside parents blast Carranza over
school sex assault and other woes
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