TOP EDUCATION STORIES OF 2021
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | DEC. 31, 2021 - JAN. 6, 2022 9
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
This year was filled with
ups and downs for students,
parents, teachers and school
administrators who were still
learning how to navigate the
COVID-19 pandemic, and were
presented with challenges as
the city moved to reform initiatives
that impacted the school
community.
QNS is taking a look back
at the events that unfolded this
year in education in Queens.
Here are some of the top education
stories of 2021.
Schools Chancellor Richard
Carranza resigns from post
After serving as the helm of
New York City’s public school
system for three years, Schools
Chancellor Richard Carranza
resigned from his post in
March to focus on self-care and
grieve the loss of family members
and friends to COVID-19.
“This is a bittersweet moment
for me,” Carranza said.
“I came to New York City three
years ago with a mission to
help the Department of Education
reach its full potential and
of course to serve and lift up
all, not just some, but all of our
public school children.”
Although he stated that the
city’s public school system was
stabilized, Carranza received
backlash from Queens parents
and elected officials for
his efforts in reforming both
the Specialized High School
Admissions Test and Gifted
and Talented program, as part
of his mission to desegregate
schools and bring equity into
the city’s public school system.
According to reports, arguments
between the chancellor
and Mayor Bill de Blasio over
the Gifted and Talented program
may be a reason behind
his departure.
Far Rockaway native Meisha
Porter becomes new schools
chancellor
Following Carranza’s resignation,
Meisha Porter became
the first Black woman
to lead the New York City
public school system.
“We are going to build
up communities together
and bring people together to
serve our students,” said Porter,
a 20-year veteran of the
New York City public school
system.
As chancellor, Porter vowed
to remove barriers and direct resources
where they are needed
the most, and to communicate
clearly their shared goals and
commitments at every school, in
every neighborhood and in every
borough. Porter had pledged
to be a “leader, teacher and principal”
promising to do everything
to reopen high schools,
and address trauma and academic
needs amid the pandemic.
DOE removes Maspeth High
School principal involved in grade
fraud scandal
The city’s Department of Education
(DOE) in July removed
Maspeth High School’s principal
from his position following
accusations of his involvement
in a grade fraud scandal.
Principal Khurshid Abdul-
Mutakabbir was accused of
changing incomplete grades to
passing grades and awarding
undeserved credits to students.
According to a DOE spokesperson,
those claims were substantiated
by conducting nearly
100 interviews with students,
staff and parent witnesses. Following
the DOE’s investigation
into Abdul Mutakabbir, the department
served him with disciplinary
charges and sought to
terminate his employment.
Months later, another report
found other Maspeth High
School staff participated in inappropriate
behavior at the school.
Queens electeds and parents
protest elimination of Gifted &
Talented program
After Mayor Bill de Blasio
announced the end of the
G&T program in October,
several Queens lawmakers
and parents protested the
termination of the program
outside of P.S. 203 in Fresh
Meadows.
“I’m afraid for my youngest
child next year if the
G&T program is cut,” said
Bayside resident Jie Liu, a
parent of two children who
are in the program. “I think
they should expand the program
citywide, and not cut
it because a lot of kids want
to get a better education and
more opportunities.”
City Council Democratic
nominees Sandra Ung and
Linda Lee had criticized
de Blasio for scrapping the
program without consulting
parents, educators and
stakeholders in the community.
According to the
mayor, G&T students will
remain in their programming
without disruption to
their learning, and the city’s
new plan, Brilliant NYC,
will be phased in for grades
one through three. Lawmakers
stressed the importance
of expanding the program
in every school district and
that the elimination of the
program has sent thousands
of families and students into
limbo and uncertainty.
Success Academy Ozone
Park Middle School opens
with ribbon-cutting
After waiting for more
than two years for a permanent
middle school, parents,
students and educators
celebrated the opening
of Success Academy Ozone
Park Middle School with a
ribbon-cutting ceremony in
October.
The space for the new
school, which opened in August
and serves 250 Success
Academy Queens fifth- and
sixth-grade students, was
provided by the city in late
May, after years of tenacious
advocacy by thousands of
parents and educators who
received support from elected
officials. The city agreed
to provide the building, a
former Catholic school located
at 109-55 128th St.,
in May, when the students’
temporary co-location at I.S.
238 in Hollis was about to
expire.
Archbishop Molloy High
School creates Council for
Diversity and Inclusion
Archbishop Molloy High
School’s Council for Diversity
and Inclusion was created
as a response to the reports
of racism and sexism past
and present students experienced
while at the Briarwood
private institution.
The Catholic Marist
school came under fire in
June when students and
alumni began contacting the
school for not addressing the
killing of George Floyd and
protests impacting the nation
as well as some of their
own students.
The Council is driven by
a group of alumni, parents,
faculty, staff and industry
experts who are committed
to cultivating a truly inclusive
institutional culture at
the high school.
Flushing Townsend Harris
High School teacher removed
following sexual misconduct
allegations
Joseph Canzoneri, a
former English teacher
at Townsend Harris High
School in Flushing, was removed
from the campus following
allegations of sexual
misconduct with students.
Canzoneri, who was removed
from Townsend Harris
High School in 2018 and
reinstated this fall by the
city Department of Education
(DOE), has been reassigned
outside of the school
building, according to the
DOE.
The school newspaper,
called The Classic, made inquiries
on Canzoneri which
led to his removal. Three senior
students organized a sitin
protest on Nov. 23 in the
school’s lobby to share their
thoughts on the issue. The
students called for “transparency
regarding credible
sexual misconduct accusations
that are made against
teachers within the school,
the banning of the accused
from entering the building
and interacting with students,
training for students,
transparency for past failures,
and the revision of DOE
sexual misconduct policies,”
according to The Classic.
Families rally to save United
Nations International School
in Jamaica
Queens lawmakers joined
parents, teachers, alumni
and students outside of the
United Nations International
School (UNIS) in Jamaica for
a rally in December calling
on the secretary-general of
the United Nations, Antonio
Guterres, to suspend the decision
to close the school.
The school, located at 173-
53 Croydon Road, is facing
closure after the UNIS board
of trustees notified the community
last month of its decision
to permanently close the
campus in June 2022, citing
enrollment losses and a $2
million deficit. Queens lawmakers
expressed their concern
with the impact of the
school’s closing on students
represented in their constituencies,
as current plans
would relocate children to the
UNIS Manhattan campus.
QNS file photos
YEAR IN REVIEW
/QNS.COM
