By: Ellen Cans

A group of Upper West Side families are renewing a years-long campaign to oust the principal of their children’s public school.

As reported by the NY Post, more than a hundred parents of children who attend Manhattan School for Children have signed a letter calling for Principal Claire Lowenstein to be replaced.  The parents’ campaign against her has already been going on for years, and in November, the principal got her second no-confidence vote in just two years.  “We are a large coalition of concerned P.S. 333/MSC parents who are working to make sure our school is once again a warm, supportive environment,” reads the letter, obtained by The Post.  “We do not think this is possible with the current principal.”

The families allege that Lowenstein has “sullied” the school’s reputation for prospective students and staff.  They accuse her administration of “actively hostile” relationships with parents of special education students, and of “documented racism.”  Dozens of teachers have reportedly left the school since the principal took her post in fall 2014, as per the parents’ letter.

Student enrolment at the school, which serves grades K-8, has also dropped by the hundreds.  City data shows that there were some 760 students in fall 2014, but that enrollment has since dropped to 501. The DOE expects the school will lose another 94 students next school year.

“This is a woman who told me this was a public education — and what was I expecting?” said Mom Kate Dominus, who signed the letter, and who transferred one of her children out of PS 333 for middle school.  Parents of first graders in the school were also enraged said Jonathan Goldman, who said his child’s first-grade teacher quit giving only 24-hours notice after an alleged conflict with the principal.  “The first grade parents were on fire this year,” Goldman said. “As a group, they are furious.”  He said the students in that first grade class had to be moved to other homerooms, which each grew to rosters of about 30 students.

Another parent, Adams Pinckney, who signed the petition complained that his son’s special education teacher was suddenly pulled from the classroom in September with just a weekend’s notice.  “That was the start of one bombshell after another, when there was no opportunity for response or dialogue,” Pinckney said. “The ‘conversation’ was either so unresponsive, or so cursory to be almost insulting. Like come on, we don’t need a platitude.” Pinckney said they waited almost an entire year for the special-Ed teacher to be replaced. “We tried to be patient and understanding — we’re coming out of the pandemic,” he said, till finally “We decided we’ve been too patient for too long.”

Lowenstein could not be reached by the Post for comment.  Lowenstein’s union denied the allegations in the letter. “As we have stated in the past, Principal Lowenstein is a highly effective and dedicated school leader, and PS 333 has performed well under her tenure,” said Craig DiFalco, a spokesman for the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.

“Our new district superintendent actively engages with families and the rest of the school community to implement interventions that best serve everyone,” said Chyann Tull, a spokesperson for the DOE.  “We will continue to collaborate with staff and families to ensure that all students are receiving the high quality care and education that they deserve, while keeping them at the center of planning.”