Principal axed over grading scandal

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Students at DeWitt Clinton High School have expressed surprise at the abrupt transfer of their principal, who is accused of changing student grades at a time when the struggling school risks facing closure unless it improves.

The Education Department reassigned Santiago Taveras from his position as DeWitt Clinton’s principal last week, “pending a disciplinary matter,” the department’s spokeswoman Devora Kaye told The Press via email Monday. The transfer follows an investigation by the Education Department into allegations of Mr. Taveras changing grades of students, so they would pass some of their classes.

It was not immediately clear whether the change of grades was massive or whether it significantly affected the school’s performance statistics. The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Education Department’s investigation found the changes Mr. Taveras made included changing a grade from failing to passing for a student who said she had to miss many days of school because of a medical condition. In other cases, Mr. Taveras gave credits to students whom administrators had mistakenly enrolled in the same course twice, according to the report. He reportedly said he did not want the students penalized for administrators’ mistakes.

Lisa Luft has been named temporary acting principal, effective Monday, while a search for a longer-term interim principal continues, another Education Department spokesperson said. In the email Monday, the spokesperson added the Education Department has started sharing all updates with the students and parents.

The Education Department declined to comment on how Mr. Taveras’ transfer might affect the school. DeWitt Clinton is in its final year of the department’s Renewal School program, which assists struggling schools in an attempt to help them avoid being shut down.

The news of Mr. Taveras’ reassignment came as a surprise to DeWitt Clinton students and at least one parent.

“We found out about it on the [television] news,” said Monica Rodriguez, the mother of a freshman at Clinton. “No one notified the parents. There was no letter sent out telling us the principal was no longer going to be the principal.”

One junior, who declined to give her name, said she learned of Mr. Taveras’ transfer from a post another student put on Facebook. She added she did not “even know what’s going on” but was not concerned. The junior transferred to Clinton this fall and said she would not have been one of the students whose grades might have been in question.

Michael, a junior, said he learned about the reassignment while being interviewed by The Press. He and his family were out of town during the Thanksgiving holiday.

“Oh, my God, that’s crazy,” Michael said, as he was heading to school on Monday morning. “Without him, this school is going to go crazy. He brings excellence to this school. He brings happiness to this school… He makes sure that the fights stay to a minimum. He makes sure that people get to class. He makes sure that everyone is on point. He is not a principal who doesn’t care. He cares about us.”

The Education Department’s three-year Renewal School program works the bottom 5 percent of lowest-performing schools statewide. The program includes partnering with community-based organizations that offer afterschool and mental health programs and adding an extra hour to the school day.

DeWitt Clinton had a 48 percent four-year graduation rate in the 2015-2016 school year, compared to 66 percent in the Bronx overall and 72 percent in the city, according to Department of Education data.

This represented a marginal improvement from 2014-2015, when the school’s four-year rate stood at 46 percent, compared to 62 percent in the Bronx and 70 percent in the city, and from 2013-2014, when Clinton’s rate was 45 percent, compared to 59 percent in the Bronx and 68 percent in the city.

Mr. Taveras, whose LinkedIn profile says he previously worked as a deputy chancellor and a senior supervising superintendent at the Education Department, became DeWitt Clinton’s principal in 2013.

DeWitt Clinton High School, DeWitt Clinton, Clinton, Santiago Taveras, NYC Department of Education, Lisa Herndon

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