By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
On Friday January 31st, Department of Education administrators held a meeting at Assemblywoman Nily Rozic’s office to try to mend relations with Queens elected officials. In a heated Jan. 17 community meeting, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza walked out abruptly, ending the session and sparking criticism from the elected officials. The Chancellor was reacting to the jeering crowd and two fuming parents whose kids were assaulted at MS 158 Marie Curie and who yelled demanding to be addressed.
As reported by the NY Post, Chancellor Carranza himself will not be attending the meeting. Rather senior DOE officials will gather with a range of politicians, including Rep. Grace Meng, City Councilmen Barry Grodenchik, and Peter Koo, attempting to gain reconciliation. State Sen. John Liu, who was one of the persons who disputed with Carranza over Twitter was also invited to the meeting, but will not attend, sending a rep in his place.
The contentious District 26 public meeting last month was ‘interrupted’ when Carranza was “setup” by the father of a girl who was sexually tormented for weeks and finally sexually assaulted in a classroom at MS 158 in Bayside, Queens. The alleged perpetrator was said to have evaded serious punishment. The mother of a child who alleges abuse was screaming that the “school did nothing” to help. When the parents verbally attacked his leadership at the meeting, Carranza walked out, and later defended himself and blamed criticism of his leadership on racism towards his Mexican-American lineage. A full-scale Twitter spat broke out on Wednesday featuring Carranza vs. Rep. Grace Meng, a Democrat who represents the district where the incidents occurred.
“This was about a situation where local parents were telling him about their children being assaulted. He abruptly left the meeting. These parents were hurt and not pretending. They deserve compassion and the truth,” Meng said on Twitter.
The chancellor responded in rapid fire. “No. Enough. I’ve spoken to you personally 4 times about these issues. You know our superintendent, executive superintendent, and a myriad of support staff are involved,” Carranza tweeted.
“Please don’t accuse them of pretending or grandstanding. They are hurt and deserve to be treated with compassion,” Meng further Tweeted, defending the parents at the meeting.
“Then as I have pledged – work directly with the staff I have directed to silence the issue. No more politics,” Carranza shot back. “I’m not playing politics. But please don’t name call or accuse my constituent,” Meng replied. City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan) joined the Twitter war, coming to Meng’s defense. Carranza did not back down from the argument.
“Interesting that the superintendent has been reaching out to the parent in question, and the parent has told her to ‘speak to my lawyer.’ Yet, is expecting issues to be addressed in an auditorium full of strangers while yelling,” Carranza wrote.
The DOE has said that District 26 Superintendent Danielle Giunta has been attending personally to MS 158’s concerns and is reporting back to Carranza on a daily basis.
