4 THE QUEENS COURIER • MARCH 16, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM Katz calls for transparency in Townsend Harris principal choice BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI [email protected] @smont76 Queens Borough President Melinda Katz came to Townsend Harris High School’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting on March 9 to again call on the Department of Education (DOE) to make the selection of the Flushing school’s new principal much more transparent. Amid months of ongoing tension Cop honored for stopping a would-be arsonist BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI [email protected]/@smont76 A quick-thinking cop at the 109th Precinct who stopped an arsonist from setting fi re to the Flushing stationhouse last month was recognized for his eff orts during the March 8 109th Precinct Community Council meeting. Th e incident occurred on Sunday, Feb. 26 at about 8:20 a.m., authorities said. James Wang, 26, allegedly entered the Flushing stationhouse at 37-05 Union St. holding a lighter in one hand and a bottle that contained rubbing alcohol in the other. Police Offi cer Russell Ibraham, who was assigned to the precinct’s security post that morning, noticed Wang and immediately yelled for help. A fellow offi cer arrived and put Wang into handcuff s while Ibraham ordered the man to drop the items on the ground. Wang complied, and Ibraham retrieved the items. According to Deputy Inspector Judith Harrison, the precinct’s commanding offi cer, Wang told authorities he intended to enter the precinct and light a fi re in the building. When asked by offi cers what compelled him to do this, Wang replied, “I didn’t expect you to be here,” Harrison reported. Wang was charged with attempted arson and making terroristic threats. Authorities said the perpetrator may be suff ering from a psychiatric condition. “All of the awards are special to me, but this one is really special,” Harrison said at the community council meeting. “He stopped a signifi cant amount of, perhaps property damage, but more importantly, there were people in this building that could have gotten hurt, or worse.” Police Offi cers Taejoong Kim, Anthony Spinella, Matthew Devine, Mario Cannariato and Brandon Mui were Photo via Facebook/Council Member Paul Vallone also honored at the meeting for their crime-fi ghting eff orts this past month. Th e Cop of the Month awards were sponsored by Councilman Paul Vallone, College Point Civic/Taxpayers Association and Peter Martines from the New York Police Shop. between interim acting principal Rosemarie Jahoda and the school community at the high school, which has already resulted in a student protest, a rally outside of the school and a demonstration in front of City Hall, Katz fi rst off ered words of encouragement to the dozens of parents in attendance. “You are fi ghting for your children’s education,” Katz said. “You’re making sure that your voices are heard.” Th e borough president has long been critical of the DOE’s C-30 principal hiring process, which she said was “entirely shrouded under a veil of silence and secrecy” in her most recent letter to Schools Chancellor Carmen HYPERLINK “https://www.facebook.com/queensbpkatz/ posts/1334426443281438”- Fariña HYPERLINK “https:// www.facebook.com/queensbpkatz/ posts/1334426443281438”. Katz asked Fariña to implement an amendment to the regulation to ensure “transparency, accountability and confi dence” in the process. “Th at’s my biggest rub with the C-30 process,” Katz said. “I don’t think they have to respond to community input … I don’t believe you truly have really eff ective input.” Katz encouraged the community to conduct a letter-writing campaign to Fariña and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Minutes later, student union president Alex Chen took to the microphone to announce he would be passing out stacks of blank postcards he had prepared that were addressed to the mayor. Chen encouraged parents, students and faculty to fi ll in the cards with their concerns about both the C-30 process and the interim acting principal and give them back to him at the end of the meeting to mail. Aft er the borough president’s remarks, a representative from the DOE, Lawrence Pendergast, took some heated questions from parents and teachers. “Th e bottom line is, the superintendent chooses the principal,” parent Jo-Ellen Kosack said. “Th at’s our problem here … You hear the tension here. If there’s someone who’s going to be a candidate that we don’t want, how could that possibly happen? And if it does, what can we, as the community, do about it?” “It’s a very legitimate question,” Pendergast replied. “Th at is a question that your representatives on the Level I committee can raise for you on your behalf at the C-30 process.” Another parent spoke out against DOE Superintendent Leticia Pineiro’s treatment of the students during their Dec. 9 sit-in protest and stated that Pinero still owed the students an apology. PTA president Susan Karlic said she asked Pinero to attend the PTA meeting and she “regretfully declined.” “Can you understand why this community has little to no faith in the DOE?” said Joe Canzoneri, an English teacher at the school. “Th ese kids are far more impressive than anything that’s come into this building from your offi ce.” Sumaita Hasan, co-editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper Th e Classic, read aloud a statement from the chancellor’s C-30 regulations, which require that “interim-acting principals must be in the Principal Candidate Pool, except in exigent circumstances, when the Senior Deputy Chancellor or his/her designee may authorize assignment of an interim acting principal prior to completion of an evaluation.” Hasan asked Pendergast to clarify what “exigent” meant in this context and whether it barred Jahoda from being considered for the permanent position — referring to reports that Jahoda was being investigated for allegedly denying services to a visually impaired student. Pendergast said he would have to follow up with Hasan the following day with a comment. Jahoda was in attendance for the entire meeting. Prior to Katz and Pendergast’s remarks, the interim acting principal gave a principal’s report to the school community regarding curricular and school policy matters. Karlic said that the Level 1 Committee will meet on Wednesday, March 15, for fi rst round interviews with candidates. Photos by Suzanne Monteverdi/QNS Borough President Melinda Katz addresses the school community and interim acting principal Rosemarie Jahoda listens (seated, right).
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