No principal, no problem! say parents at troubled grade school

Posted

The principal of P.S. 207 in Kingsbridge was nowhere to be seen as the new school year rolled in – and some parents whose children attend the school would like her to stay away.

About 10 mothers of P.S. 207 students donned white T-shirts with the name of the principal, Maria Rosado, circled and crossed out, as they gathered for a silent rally on Sept. 20. The mothers allege that during the past year, P.S. 207 was plagued by severe bullying, and that administrators stonewalled the issue at the school that serves pre-kindergarten to second grade.

Ms. Rosado has not been seen at the school since last spring, according to parents. Another education administrator, Tara O’Brien, was running P.S. 207 operations in the meantime. But many parents want Ms. Rosado gone from the school, permanently.

“They’re keeping the principal and we think that she is the main problem,” said Rosaly Santana, who organized the Sept. 20 rally. “We feel that she lacks leadership. And if she hasn’t made any changes in 13 years, what’s going to make her have changes now?”

Although parents said they had seen improvements at the school since the Department of Education intervened last spring to reduce bullying – dispatching additional people to monitor the lunch room, among other measures – they are worried that things will go back to the way they were when Ms. Rosado returns.

“The only thing we’ve heard from staff here is that she is coming back and they want us to give her a chance,” Ms. Santana said. The school would be better off under the current leadership of Ms. O’Brien, Ms. Santana said.

The school has seen improvements since the Education Department intervened, she said: “The other years, my daughter and [son] got hurt and they didn’t give me a call.”

One of the past injuries involved a large scratch on her daughter’s back, which Ms. Santana noticed when her daughter got home, she said. This year, when her son hit his head and scraped his forehead in class, she said the school contacted her.

Ms. Santana and other parents also have email addresses for all the teachers, she said, adding that she “received a call from parent support program about my daughter’s IEP – something they had never done before.”

“They’re listening to our concerns,” Ms. Santana said, as she stood outside of P.S. 207 just before the school’s orientation for families on Sept. 22. “We had the superintendent come in, too. She told us that she wants us to have faith in them. That they are trying to make changes,” said Ms. Santana.

Other parents confirmed the account of recent improvements.

“This year’s been excellent because there’s a lot of people from the administration here, from the city,” said a mother, Anna, who declined to provide her last name. “As of right now, it’s been great. But, in the past years, it hasn’t been that great.”

“There was a meeting with the Board of Education, the superintendent, some people who were in the school for a few weeks trying to improve safety, like a safety board,” Anna said, as she stood on Godwin Terrace outside the school last week, after picking up her children from school last week. Two of Anna’s children attend P.S. 207.

Keep Ms. O’Brien

Another P.S. 207 parent, Marisol, who declined to provide her last name, also said she wants the school to continue under Ms. O’Brien.

Marisol’s daughter began her first year at P.S. 207 earlier this month, and seeing the way the school operates these days, “I’m happy,” she said.

Marisol has no direct knowledge of the problems P.S. 207 faced in the past, she said, although she received an Education Department letter regarding the safety issues at the school and read the allegations about P.S. 207 and its principal online.

“I think she [Ms. Rosado] has to be out,” Marisol said, as she stood on the corner of Godwin Terrace with her children. “That’s the only way the school is going to change is if they put in another principal.”

Seeking to transfer

If Ms. Rosado returns, several parents said they would seek to transfer their children out of P.S. 207, but a transfer may prove difficult.

“Most parents, me included, don’t want the principal back because of how she managed the school in the past,” Anna said. “We all know as parents, the odds for a child being transferred is very slim… I live near P.S. 7, but I have to come here.”

Ms. Santana was also looking into a possible transfer, but said the difficulty of commuting seemed to rule out the option for her family: “I have my son and he’s getting therapy at home, so I cannot really go further.” Marisol agreed: “With this new principal, you can have a conversation with her... If [Ms. O’Brien] stays, my daughter will stay in the school. But if Ms. Rosado comes back, then I’m going to have to make a decision about it.”

Marisol is currently awaiting transfer materials from the Education Department.

As of early this week, the P.S. 207 website still listed Ms. Rosado as the school’s principal. The Education Department has not told parents when Ms. Rosado might return, according to both Marisol and Ms. Santana. The department had not responded to requests for comments by press time Tuesday.

“As it is right now, it’s great but it’s a temporary principal. Who is going to be the permanent principal?” Anna said.

PS 207, P.S. 207, Tara O'Brien, DOE, Education Department, Rosaly Santana, Maria Rosado, Lisa Herndon

Comments