No answer to anguish at PS 207

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Following allegations of bullying and sexual harassment among young students and stonewalling by the administration at P.S. 207, the superintendent seems to be focusing on the troubled school.

But change is not coming quickly.

Theresa Checo, co-president of P.S. 207’s Parents’ Association, said last month, District 10 Superintendent Melodie Mashel visited the 3030 Godwin Terrace school. Ms. Checo said as a result, one secretary who had previously been working on a lower floor was relocated to the same area as the rest of the administrative staff and some clutter was removed from the lunchroom.

At a March 18 meeting of the PA, outraged parents said much bigger problems still need to be addressed.

Sandra Padilla said she has wanted to remove her son from his kindergarten class at P.S. 207 since he suffered a serious head injury when another boy pushed him into a wall this winter, necessitating a trip to the hospital and two days off from school.

Speaking in Spanish, she claimed that an administrator told her if she pulled her child out of P.S. 207, she could be charged with neglect and sent to jail. In fact, the city allows students to transfer from school on safety grounds, though another P.S. 207 parent previously told The Press that the process is difficult.

“There is a clear process in place for security transfers, and we adhere to that process,” a Department of Education spokeswoman wrote in an email.

As Ms. Padilla broke down in tears last Friday, several other parents helped her out of the room, with District 10 Family Advocate Elba Velez following close behind. Ms. Velez’s role is to be the point person for families having issues with the district.

No one from the school’s administration announced him- or herself at the meeting. The school’s principal, Maria Rosado, did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

Northwest Bronx Councilman Andrew Cohen and several of his staffers came to learn more about problems at P.S. 207.

“There’s a lot of issues with the school, but at what point does your office take action? At what point is the principal held accountable?” one mother asked Mr. Cohen. “I mean, we can talk until we’re blue in the face, but is there going to be any change?”

Several mothers complained that lunch and recess are understaffed, which has caused more incidents of hitting, pushing and children taking one another’s food. Others said their children’s lunches come home mostly uneaten because the students are rushed through lunch.

“Our kids’ safety is a major concern, especially at lunchtime,” said Mercedes Diaz, whose daughter is in kindergarten. “I mean, kids take her lunch away from her, and she can’t go to anyone.”

Parents said they used to be allowed to volunteer during lunch and recess, but have been banned since last spring after being told they needed to get fingerprinted. Parent leaders said the school has not helped them with that process.

The DOE spokeswoman said the principal has added an additional staff member to the cafeteria during lunch and the school is currently training new aides.

Ms. Diaz said she is trying to enroll her daughter in another school. Other parents voiced similar intentions during the meeting, and at least two parents have already taken their children out of P.S. 207 this year. Kent Bowman began homeschooling his daughter after what he described as administrative inaction over a 2015 incident in which two boys allegedly showed their penises to her. Kristina Martell said her son, whom she said had been bullied for years at the school, started at nearby P.S./M.S. 37 on Monday. Ms. Martell spent several months fighting with the school before successfully obtaining a safety transfer for her son.

In addition to safety issues, parents voiced concern over P.S. 207’s use of Title I funds, hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal money aimed at improving academic achievement at schools with a high poverty rate.

PA co-president Consuelo Hernandez told Mr. Cohen this was the first year she was aware of that the principal has allowed the parents a say in Title I funds set aside for parental involvement, about 1 percent of the school’s total allotment.

Ms. Hernandez added that Ms. Rosado has never shared exactly how the school spends its Title I funds.

At one point, Ms. Hernandez polled the room to see how many parents knew the principal. Less than a quarter of the roughly 40 parents in attendance raised their hands.

Before he left, Mr. Cohen told the group he is available to hear their concerns.

“Literally, you just walk around the corner, you don’t need an appointment, just come in, I have a full staff of people. I want to know if there’s a problem,” said the councilman, whose Kingsbridge district office is located at 277 W. 231st St. “Come around the corner and let me know.”

Joshua Stephenson, a community liaison for the councilman’s office, stayed another hour to hear more concerns from parents.

In a phone interview Monday, Mr. Cohen said he was surprised by the number of parents at the meeting and how universal their concerns seemed to be.

“I do want to get the full picture before jumping to conclusions,” Mr. Cohen said, explaining that he had recently spoken with Ms. Mashel about the school and was still attempting to reach out to the school’s administration. “But it’s rare that I go to a meeting where so many parents speak with one voice. They were all concerned with the lack of accessibility to the administration in the building.”

Parents have been considering a walkout, in which they would they keep their children home from school for a day to protest the administration. Ms. Checo said she wants to see if things improve with help from Mr. Cohen’s office before parents take more drastic measures.

“We’re getting attention. We’re hoping that [change] happens; we don’t want to take it there,” she said, adding that the PA doesn’t want to do anything to hurt the teachers. “In reality, what we want to do is make a better school. We don’t want to do something so drastic as take all of our children out of the school. We’re hoping for change and we want to do it peacefully. But if we have to take it there, we sure will.”

PS 207, Andrew Cohen, Melodie Mashel, school safety, Isabel Angell

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