Mystery of the missing money

From the NY Post:

Teachers and parents at William Cullen Bryant HS in Queens are demanding an accounting of more than $195,000 collected from students for gym uniforms, paddle locks and food.

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the city Department of Education said it could find no receipts for such purchases from the school store from 2011 to 2013 — and only some from 2014.

Gym teacher Peter Maliarakis said Principal Namita Dwarka has refused to account for the sales — the profits from which are supposed to pay for student activities and phys-ed equipment.

Bleachers in a school gym are cracked and missing sections, and mats for wrestling and gymnastics are mildewed and peeling, Maliarakis said.

Principal accused of changing grades

From the Daily News:

Changes on final transcripts from failing to passing grades under principal Namita Dwarka have roiled W.C. Bryant High School parents and students.

Hot off a rally at the Astoria high school on Monday to protest Dwarka’s decision to cancel math and science programs and neglect special needs students, teachers have now come forward with allegations of rampant grade fixes.

“It’s all because she wants to increase graduation rates,” Gus Prentzas, president of the school’s Parent Association, told The News. “She would do anything to make herself look good.”

Gym teacher Peter Maliarakis, who claims he has a binder full of documents outlining Dwarka’s inappropriate behavior, was dumbfounded when he learned that one of his students had passed gym — even though he gave the senior a lowly 55 on his report card.

DOE makes learning more difficult for injured kid

From CBS New York:

High school senior M’Kayah Walker of Woodside, Queens, said she was injured while playing soccer.

“I was playing soccer. Kids fell on top of me,” she said. “And I found out my knees were dislocated.”

That sports injury has Walker struggling to get around on crutches. But she never dreamed it would disrupt her academic future.

She said making it up the steps and in to William Cullen Bryant High School in Woodside is painful.

Her mother requested home instruction for Walker, allowing the teen to graduate with her peers. The answer was no — not once, but twice.

“Just give me the home schooling so I can get my diploma,” she said.

Instead, the school issued her an elevator pass. But getting to it was tough and then she says she had to wait.

“They have taken more than 15 minutes to open the elevator,” she said. “When I use it, I’m late, and the teachers yell at me.”

Next month, Walker gets surgery to repair her knee. Without home instruction, she believes she won’t be able to graduate until next summer.

Bryant High School has a mini-jail on campus

From the NY Post:

The principal of William Cullen Bryant HS in Long Island City, Queens, has rounded up more than 20 failing kids with behavior problems — and put them in a trailer where they stay all day.

Principal Namita Dwarka calls the boxy, red trailer housing the confined misfits “the Scholars Academy.”

Teachers come to the trailer for English, math, science, history and other classes. Even lunch is brought in. If kids go into the cafeteria, they are not served, one told The Post. The only break is phys ed in the yard, when a teacher “rolls out the balls.”

“Most of the kids are not happy with the situation,” a staffer said.

Gus Prentzas, president of the Bryant HS parents association, calls the treatment “unacceptable.”

Some “act crazy” during class, making it difficult to concentrate on work, one trailer student said. Others defiantly listen to music on headphones.

Well, what are you supposed to do with disruptive students since you apparently can't suspend or expel them anymore?

High schools to close and reopen

From the Daily News:

The future of eight large Queens high schools — and the hundreds of educators who work there — are in jeopardy as the city plans to overhaul the struggling institutions.

The schools could lose up to half of their staff and receive a new principal and name this fall after the city and teachers union failed to reach an agreement on teacher evaluations.

The move could help the city get up to $60 million in federal funds.

Kathy Carlson, president of the Parents Association at Grover Cleveland High School, in Ridgewood, blames the school’s poor graduation rate on its large number of students who aren’t fluent in English — and therefore take longer to finish high school.

Other Queens schools facing a turn-around include Flushing High School; Long Island City High School; William Cullen Bryant High School, in Long Island City; John Adams High School, in Ozone Park; Newtown High School, in Elmhurst; and Richmond Hill High School.

Queens: Vibrant, diverse and full of dropouts!

Bryant High School to close?