PS 106 in Queens New York, the "School of No"

[Blondie in Spokane]

Dept. of Education sends special investigator to ‘School of No’

PS 106 earned its “School of No” moniker because, numerous school sources say, it has no gym, no art classes, kindergarten trailers that smell like animal urine and no reading, writing or math books for the rigorous Common Core curriculum.

Students are frequently plopped in front of movie screens for hours on end instead of learning.

Despite the squalor, Sills still forces parents — many of whom live below the poverty line — to cough up more than $200 to attend a bizarre, end-of-year prom in which fifth-graders must dress up like brides and grooms.

http://nypost.com/2014/01/14/dept-of-education-sends-special-investigator-to-school-of-no/

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

The ritzy student bash at the school with no books
http://nypost.com/2014/01/15/video-shows-do-nothing-principals-bizarre-bash/

Parents boo ‘terrible principal’ at city’s ‘School of No’
http://nypost.com/2014/01/14/parents-boo-terrible-principal-at-citys-school-of-no/

Worst principal finally shows up on time as probers descend
http://nypost.com/2014/01/13/school-official-finally-investigates-nys-worst-elementary/

 

[cuffem]

Oh my! she should leave the smokey eye for the evening.How much money does this principle make?I think I know were the school budget went for books.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

I think I read that she makes over $140,000 or close to it....that obviously paid for a lot of make up and furs! Oh, and a very nice car to boot!

I have a feeling her days at this school are numbered....they should be.

 

[fran]

I believe that this linked article may be what started the ball rolling on this investigation.

I think they should open a criminal probe into this matter. There's something very, very wrong here.

JMHO
fran



No books, no clue at city’s worst school

January 12, 2014 | 4:03am

The school nurse has no office equipped with a sink, refrigerator or cot.

The library is a mess: “Nothing’s in order,” said a source. “It’s a junk room.”

No substitutes are hired when a teacher is absent — students are divvied up among other classes.

A classroom that includes learning-disabled kids doesn’t have the required special-ed co-teacher.

About 40 kindergartners have no room in the three-story brick building. They sit all day in dilapidated trailers that reek of “animal urine,” a parent said; rats and squirrels noisily scamper in the walls and ceiling.

NO GYM OR ART: With no phys-ed or art classes, students are left to watch movies, including “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “Fat Albert.”

NO SPACE: Without enough space in the main brick building, kindergartners are taught in what sources say are rat-infested trailers.

Principal Marcella Sills is a frequent no-show; The Post found she missed every day of school last week but one.

And the principal — Marcella Sills, who joined PS 106 nine years ago — is a frequent no-show, sources say.

Sills did not come to school last Monday. On Tuesday, she showed up at 3:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, The Post found her at home in Westbury, LI, all day before emerging at 2:50 p.m. — school dismissal time. Wearing a fur coat, she took her BMW for a spin.

She showed up at school Thursday, but not Friday.

When Sills, 48, does go to work, it’s rarely before 11 a.m. — and often hours later, say sources familiar with her schedule.

“She strolls in whenever she wants,” one said.

The school hasn’t had a payroll secretary in years.

more at link ............ http://nypost.com/2014/01/12/no-space-no-books-no-leader-no-clue-at-citys-worst-elementary/

 

[cuffem]

http://nypost.com/2014/01/12/no-space-no-books-no-leader-no-clue-at-citys-worst-elementary/

I bet the school got some type of Hurricane Sandy relief for the Early Childhood Academy and did not use it to do the repairs,instead it went in Sills pocket.This on top ofgetting extra funds for being a Title 1 school.No payroll secretary,the IRS will also be interested in what is going on. She can not be doing this all alone someone higher up is looking the other way or involved.This is just my opinion.

 

[Ribbit]

Suit: School system ignored Queens 2nd-grader's torture

Queens educrats turned a blind eye for years as a little girl was tormented by her classmates - culminating in her being sexually assaulted in the second grade - the victim's family says.

In a $2 million suit filed in Queens Supreme Court, the family claims staffers at Public School 106 in Far Rockaway did nothing as the little girl was targeted between November 2005 and September 2007, despite repeated pleas for help from the girl's father.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york...em-queens-2nd-grader-torture-article-1.422903

 

[SwampMama]

Sadly, this is the same condition that many school in the inner city of New Orleans where I taught for many years. We rarely had substitue teachers so I often ended up with 8-10 more kids in my already crowded class. The textbooks we had on hand were NOT for the grade level that i taught and there weren't enough of them anyway. My kids had PE once a week for 30 minutes, there was no librarian but some scary chick who had a previous job with McDonalds and was in cahoots with the principal called herself the librarian but the children were NOT allowed in the library nor were they able to check books out EVER. When it came to standardized testing, the principal basically told us to "teach the test" meaning that we should spend weeks going over the material on the test so that the kids would do well. Toilet paper, paper towels, hand soap, etc was NOT supplied by the school but had to be bought by the teachers. Many schools had NO airconditioning at all and Louisiana heat reaches in the high 90's at times.

Oh I could go on and on about it and our administrators didnt give a damn. Our principal was caught with drugs and nothing happened. Then when he lost his mind and attacked and choked 2 3rd graders and told them to "get the * out of his school" the parents complained and he was reassigned/promoted to work for the school board.

I loved my kids but I finally had enough and quit. I spent thousands on my kids and my class and put my life in danger working in that extremely dangerous area and i finally reached my limit.

 

[Wolfie]

I've taught in some not so great schools, but NEVER anything like this. I'm so glad that while sometimes it is not good, at least our state hasn't let this bad happen in a regular public school. (now Charter schools, another issue)

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

‘School of No’ students watch bootlegged movies"

http://nypost.com/2014/01/17/school-of-no-students-watch-bootlegged-movies/

 

[fran]

PS 106 Is N.Y.C.’s Worst School: Why Didn’t Parents Step In?

Hurricane Sandy caused a lot of damage to the school, but major repairs have yet to be fixed, and teachers haven’t reportedly gotten any curricula since then. In fact, they reportedly find assignments and worksheets online and print them out using their own paper.

Because the school is in a low-income area, it is allocated $2.9 million plus extra funding, but no one has seen where the money is going.

Sources say school staff won’t bring up their grievances to their unions for fear Sills will “retaliate.” Parents have also expressed concern for the school’s conditions and absentee principal.

In a panel discussion, Dr. Steve Perry, George E. Curry, Paris Dennard, Rep. Bennie Thompson, and Moe Elleithee discuss the lack of involvement in this disturbing school case.

more at link ............... http://newsone.com/2836615/ps-106-far-rockaway/

 

[fran]

Yay! I just found this article!

Heads need to roll here!

fran




Investigation Under Way Into Conditions At P.S. 106 In Far Rockaway

The Department of Education is looking into the conditions the P.S. 106 and now the Special Commissioner of Investigations for New York City Schools has launched its own probe into the school and its leadership.

The department did not respond to repeated requests for Sills’ attendance record.

The United Federation of Teachers released a statement Thursday, saying members have complained about the school for years.

The UFT is cooperating with the investigation.

more at link ............ http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/01...y-into-conditions-at-p-s-106-in-far-rockaway/

 

[Wolfie]

Yay, the union is getting involved. Because it is now that public, it should protect the teachers when they tell the truth.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

A lot of allegations against this woman @ link.....she sounds like a real witch!


http://nypost.com/2014/01/19/city-ignored-teachers-pleas-to-ax-lunatic-principal-since-05/

"City Ignored Pleas to Axe 'Lunatic' Principal"

"Teachers begged city officials to investigate “School of No” Principal Marcella Sills soon after she started in 2005 — citing her constant tardiness, harassment of staff and extravagant spending on parties while the school lacked books, pencils and paper."

“Get rid of her before it’s too late,” a 2007 letter urged District 27 Superintendent Michelle Lloyd-Bey, who oversees Queens principals."

"Letters describe Sills as a tyrant and “rude lunatic administrator” who spurred an exodus of excellent teachers and failed to provide basic student supplies and services while handsomely furnishing her own office and squandering funds on catering and decorations."

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Student Opens Up About Conditions at 'School of No'

http://nypost.com/2014/01/19/student-opens-up-about-conditions-at-school-of-no/

"Shantazia is disgusted by the environment. “I see a lot of bugs here. There’s always dirt everywhere. Sometimes I find an ant on the floor when I’m eating my food in the cafeteria.” Lunch is “nasty,” she said. “Sometimes it’s burnt or has a hair in it.”

"Shantazia was held back last year even after her mom, Chante Williams, spent more than $200 on a fancy white dress for graduation — required by Principal Marcella Sills, who also demanded rental tuxedos for boys. Williams also paid the school $160 for a graduation party and a ring. The school did not refund the money, and the mom had to pay another $160 for this June’s event."

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

http://nypost.com/2014/01/19/school-of-no-principal-splurged-on-office-as-kids-lacked-basics/

"School of No Principal Splurged On Office As Kids Lacked Basics"

"And while the 234 kids lacked basic supplies and services, Principal Marcella Sills found plenty of taxpayer dough to redecorate her office and order catered meals, The Post found. Sills’ third-floor office “looks like a presidential suite,” said former teacher Patricia Walsh."

"In 2006, a letter to Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon urged him to visit Sills’ office to see the “elegant furniture” she bought soon after her May 2005 arrival, including a mahogany conference table, cushioned chairs and drapes."

"Meanwhile, “Children are sitting at desks that their legs cannot fit under. We have run out of books, pens, pencils, crayons and paints,” the letter says."

"A shiny air-conditioning unit hangs in Sills’ office window, while other rooms have old, rusty units."

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

From above link.....not sure if this has been noted yet.....

"Yet the “School of No” had a library in shambles, a nurse with no office, no Common Core math or reading books, first-grade special-ed students without a qualified teacher and no payroll secretary to keep the books."

"The letter to Condon and other officials says Sills once spent $4,000 to decorate the auditorium, paying $900 for overnight shipping of a castle that took teachers days to construct and take down."

 

[killarney rose]

Affirmative Action and tenure at their finest.

 

[Wolfie]

Affirmative Action and tenure at their finest.

In many states prinicipals do not get tenure like teachers do. AND as I've said in other posts, a person with tenure CAN be fired, I've seen it happen. It just involves a lot of paperwork and record keeping.

(according to this link, here is the law for admins and tenure in NY. http://www.saanys.org/uploads/content/TenureQandA.pdf )

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Schools probe says to fire, ban ‘School of No’ principal

http://nypost.com/2014/02/18/education-dept-report-backs-firing-no-show-queens-principal/