FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 15, 2016 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11 Townsend Harris students sit-in over principal woes BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com/@smont76 Unhappy with their acting principal, students at Townsend Harris High School in Flushing organized and staged a protest last week looking for change. Individual students from all grade levels of the school located at 149-11 Melbourne Ave. held a sit-in at their school on Dec. 8 asking that interim principal Rosemarie Jahoda not be considered for a permanent position. Townsend Harris, located next to the Queens College campus, is consistently ranked among the best public high schools in the country for academics. It was ranked 40th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report this year. A Facebook live video posted on the school newspaper’s page shows dozens of students sitting in the fourth-fl oor hallways in protest. “Students are here in protest to Ms. Jhoda possibly becoming the permanent principal following the release of a petition the garnered over 2,000 signatures,” the student-interviewer, identifi ed as Sumaita Hasan, said. Th e petition, titled “STOP Rosemarie Jahoda from being appointed the PERMANENT principal of Townsend Harris HS,” was published four days ago and currently has over 3,000 signatures. Authored by “Stop Jahoda” and addressed to the Department of Education (DOE), the petition cites “rumors of numerous instances of faculty harassment, significant changes to programs and course off erings without input from the faculty and SLT, and as time has passed, less parent engagement” among the concerns. Hasan and videographer Mehrose Ahmad begin the video with shots of students lined up in the halls. About 5 minutes into the stream, the camera moves to Leticia Pineiro, superintendent for the DOE, who is shown discussing and writing down concerns voiced by students at the sit-in while Jahoda stands beside her. An article from the school’s newspaper posted online on Dec. 6 claims teachers have “expressed frustrations with changes to procedure at Townsend Harris that have accrued over the course of the past months,” including assignment scheduling coordination, fi eld trip procedures, uniform grading policies and contest submission procedures. Th e online petition has been signed by a mixture of students, faculty and alumni. “Having just concluded a 33-year career in the Department of Education, the last 26 years, at Townsend Harris, an institution, an experience and a ‘family’ I will always cherish, I fi nd it deeply disturbing that Rosemarie Jahoda would be given serious consideration for the position of principal,” petition signer Helen Rizzuto wrote. “One cannot have ‘a high respect for the humanities tradition’ that has defi ned Townsend Harris since its inception, when one clearly demonstrates a lack of respect for the faculty and staff that work tirelessly to foster these traditions.” Jahoda has held the position since the beginning of the school year, following the departure of former Principal Anthony Barbetta. “Th e C-30 process of hiring a principal for Townsend Harris HS has not yet occurred,” a DOE spokesperson told QNS in an email. “Principal hiring and assignment decisions are made by the superintendent in accordance with the chancellor’s regulations, and based on consultations with members of the school community. We listen closely to the feedback and concerns of all school communities, and engage them as part of the C-30 process. Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Jellybean100, Inset via Facebook/THHS Classic Townsend Harris students sit in protest of their acting principal. Celebrate With Us! Complete Checking Plus 1.00% 0.51% APY1 For the first 90 days On balances of $5,000 or more Join the Grand Opening celebration of our new Flushing Bank location at 61-14 Springfield Boulevard. As part of the celebration, you will earn a special interest rate of 1.00%1 for the first 90 days when you open new Complete Plus account of our 1 a new Complete Checking Plus account at any of our branches.1 Plus when you open a new Flushing Bank Complete Checking Plus account you can get up to $200.2 Hurry, this is a limited time offer. Call or stop by a branch today! For more information visit your local Flushing Bank branch, go to www.FlushingBank.com, or call 800.581.2889. Small enough to know you. 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