FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 19, 2018 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Queens mom says school used ‘poor judgement’
when reporting son’s bullying and threats
BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI
smonteverdi@qns.com / @smont76
Even aft er months of meetings, phone
calls and paperwork, Glen Oaks parent
Renee Di Re says she’s committed to seeing
Courier earns NYPA award for
Flushing bus crash & LIC magazine
BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF
editorial@qns.com / @QNS
Staff members of Th e Queens Courier
and Ridgewood Times were recognized
for their reporting eff orts in the New
York Press Association’s 2017 Better
Newspaper Contest.
Th eir awards were presented during
NYPA’s Spring Conference in Albany
on April 13-14.
Courier reporter Suzanne Monteverdi
and editor-in-chief Robert Pozarycki
shared the third-place prize for spot
news coverage of a deadly bus crash in
Flushing last September.
Pozarycki, who also edits the
Ridgewood Times and Times
Newsweekly, also earned a second
place award in the news story category.
Th e award recognizes his June
story about a two-month closure of the
M train line between Middle Village
and Bushwick.
Th e Queens Courier also won second
place awards in the magazine category
for the LIC Courier. Angela
Matua serves as the editor-in-chief of
the monthly publication focused on
arts, entertainment and dining in Long
Island City and surrounding neighborhoods.
Th e Better Newspaper Contest recognizes
excellence in weekly and monthly
publications across the Empire State.
Awards are presented annually at
NYPA’s Spring Conference in a variety
of categories including writing, editing,
graphic design and advertising.
the city “fi x” the way it reports bullying
in its schools.
In her latest “Th ree Billboards”-style
campaign, Di Re attached a self-made
#Fix266 bumper sticker — in reference
to her son’s school, P.S./I.S. 266 — to
the back of her car. She also created a
Facebook page, where she writes about
her bullying concerns.
“Th at’s what I’ve got to drive around
with,” Di Re told the Courier while holding
up a second copy of the bumper sticker.
“Any time I do something the public
sees is the only time I hear something.”
Di Re fi rst spoke with the Courier in
May 2017. Aft er her son faced months
of bullying from peers, the then-8-yearold
student made two suicide threats in
the presence of faculty — youth counselor
Felisa Fulton and principal Christina
Catalano, respectively — on consecutive
days in February.
Th e second incident was reported six
weeks later; Di Re is unsure if the fi rst was
ever reported. Th ese actions endangered
her son’s life, the parent said.
According to the Schools Chancellor’s
regulations, any staff member who witnesses
or is provided with information
regarding student-to-student discrimination,
harassment, intimidation or bullying
in the city’s schools must report the
allegation within one school day and fi le
a written report within two school days of
the oral report.
“Th at’s why kids are committing suicide.
Th at’s why all this trouble is going
on, ” Di Re said. “Nobody’s following regulations
and nobody’s holding teachers
and staff accountable when they choose
to ignore it.”
In the following months, the chancellor’s
Offi ce of Special Investigations conducted
a probe into Di Re’s complaints.
Aft er fi ling FOIL requests for information
on the results, the parent was sent a
largely redacted document that contained
information the agency found Catalano
“acted in poor judgement” in the February
incident. Allegations against Fulton were
found to be “unsubstantiated,” according
to another sparse document sent to Di Re.
Catalano has since been transferred to
another school, where she serves as assistant
principal, Di Re said. Fulton remains
at the school.
“When my son goes to the teacher and
tells her he’s being bullied and they don’t
do anything about it, that’s a problem,”
father Anthony Di Re said. “Everyone
along the line dropped the ball.”
Th e Di Res are not the only public school
family interested in eff ecting change. In
March, the DOE was directed to overhaul
its bullying protocols aft er settling a
class-action lawsuit brought forth by parents
who accused the agency of ignoring
bullying complaints.
A report published by state Attorney
General Eric Schneiderman in August
suggested the DOE was under-reporting
incidents of bullying in its schools.
An audit published one year earlier by
New York State Comptroller Th omas P.
DiNapoli reported the same.
Still, in 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio
and former Schools Chancellor Carmen
Fariña claimed the city saw the safest
Photo by Suzanne Monteverdi/The Courier
school year on record “in the history of
New York City.”
Di Re is now urging the new schools chancellor,
Richard A. Carranza, to hold faculty
who do not follow regulations accountable
and take bullying threats seriously.
“Th e communication from DOE to parent
is terrible,” she said. “Th e new chancellor
needs to know this is what he’s
inheriting.”
Di Re is still reviewing her legal options.
She plans to appeal her FOIL requests
in an eff ort to acquire more information
about the investigations.
Th e Courier reached out to the DOE for
comment. Th e agency did not return the
request as of press time.
Queens parent Renee Di Re stands beside her #Fix266 bumper sticker
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