14 SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
BY JULIA MORO
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
The city’s Department of Education
(DOE) removed the Maspeth High
School’s principal in early July due to
reports of grade fraud. Now, reports of
other misconduct are being released
amid the scandal.
Principal Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir
reportedly intimidated teachers into
passing students despite their failing efforts,
according to an extensive report by
the Special Commissioner of Investigation
(SCI). The allegations date back as far
as 2015. The misconduct at the school was
a matter of public discussion, according
to the report, and was even the subject of
news stories before any investigations
were started.
Abdul-Mutakabbir pressured staff -
ers to off er sham courses to “low priority”
students to quickly get them out of
the school and graduate them early. A
source in the report said that “troubled
students” were enrolled in the classes to
receive credits, but never had to attend
or submit any assignments.
One source, named in the report as
CW5, failed “Student S” in physical
education class. However Abdul-
Mutakabbir told CW5 that Maspeth
could not aff ord summer school for PE,
so CW5 would have to pass Student S.
Abdul-Mutakabbir is reported saying
he would give Student S a diploma that
was not “worth the paper it was printed
on” and for him “to have fun working at
Taco Bell.” CW5 felt threatened, and subsequently
changed each failing student’s
grade to a passing one.
Abdul-Mutakabbir also allegedly told
teachers, “We’re not here to teach them
life lessons; college will do that,” and
that Abdul-Mutakabbir “just wanted
them out.”
Several other key players at Maspeth
High School refused to be interviewed,
specifi cally, assistant principals Jesse
Pachter and Stefan Singh. Witnesses said
that Pachter and Singh helped carry out
the principal’s fraud and intimidation.
Pachter, who still works at the school,
allegedly received $35,681 per session for
coaching the female varsity fl ag football
team and leading the Public School Athletic
League (PSAL), which required he
be present at all athletic games at the
school. However, a source stated Pachter
never attended any games that year.
The DOE said that there weren’t substantial
fi ndings against Pachter, though
he, among others, have been retrained
and have gotten a letter in their fi les.
Head Dean Daniel Sepulveda was also
accused of acting inappropriately with
students. Sepulveda, the wrestling coach,
Maspeth High School is located at 54-40 74th St. Screenshot via Google Maps
was recorded as he wrestled a student
who was not a member of the team. The
video shows Sepulveda picking up and
slamming the student to the ground.
In the SCI report, a parent is quoted
as saying, “it’s very concerning that a
teacher would do something so violent
to a student.”
The report concluded that the
violent behavior of Sepulveda was
“indisputable.”
“Though the student appeared laughing,
the video clearly showed a large,
grown man throwing a thin, young teenager
to the ground,” the report stated.
Sepulveda also texted wrestling
students privately instead of using the
appropriate application, GroupMe, to
communicate with students. Below
shows messages between a student and
Sepulveda.
Sepulveda also allegedly became
“friends” with a female student and regularly
drove wrestling students home in
his car. Some students also claimed to
have smoked marijuana in Sepulveda’s
apartment, though no kids were willing
to speak with SCI about these allegations.
Sepulveda was also accused of
verbally giving answers to students
during Regents exams while serving
as a proctor. In a text exchange between
Sepulveda and another witness, CW6,
Sepulveda said the following about
his misconduct: “You don’t get it, man.
You came from a very black and white
background in private schools. But it’s
diff erent here. It’s diff erent because I’m
not going to not even give these kids a
shot at the real world because they didn’t
pass high school. That’s ridiculous.”
Councilman Robert Holden said
this investigation and the subsequent
removal of Abdul-Mutakabbir took “a
ridiculous amount of time.”
“There was no sense of urgency,”
Holden said. “Whistleblowers fi rst came
to my offi ce more than twoyears ago and
we helped bring the story to light.”
Holden criticized the DOE and mayor
for dragging their feet, while several
others involved in the scandal are still
working at the school.
“They also need to be removed,”
Holden said. “If the city won’t do it, it
maybe up to the U.S. Attorney. Allowing
an atmosphere of intimidation and
fraudto continueisunfairto the many
great teachers in the schoolanda great
disservice to students.”
Holden said that he recently met with
the new principal, Selin Alicanoglu,
and looks forward to working with her
to help Maspeth High School move
forward.
Abdul-Mutakabbir was the fi rst principal
of the school, which was founded
in 2011 and awarded Blue Ribbon status
in 2018.
Abdul-Mutakabbir was also accused
of treating the staff unfairly, favoring
members of his “clique.” Additionally,
Maspeth personnel allegedly used non-
DOE email accounts for school business.
The DOE said they are reserving
the right to pursue charges against
anyone found of wrongdoing. The
DOE will be holding a hearing for the
allegations against Abdul-Mutakabbir
next month.
EDUCATION
Maspeth High School personnel accused of grade
fraud & inappropriate behavior toward students
Sepulveda allegedly slams a student to the ground.
Photo taken from the SCI report
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