Belt-Tightening at the New York City Department of Education: Not So Much

 

Queens South High School Superintendent Josephine Van Ess, at center, with fellow DOE execs and administrators at the conference this week in San Diego.

 

Susan Edelman may not still be at the New York Post full time, but she is still a wonderful source of information on the actions of employees  and administrators working for the New York City Department of Education. I for one hope she never stops.

When I worked as a Special Representative at the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), almost every day I heard "do not talk with Sue Edelman". Funny. I ignored this advice, of course. Just look at the stories in the archive since I started this blog in 2007.

What we, as taxpayers and parents in New York City, should be looking at are those pesky "personnel services" paid for by our tax dollars. We are paying for them, and so far, there does not seem to be any eyes on these prizes making sure to rein in corruption and fraud.

I encourage anyone interested in finding out how public funds can be diverted to the pockets of individuals to use for personal gain, subscribe to her substack!

Sue, keep up the great work.

betsy.combier@gmail.com

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Mayor Mamdani's belt-tightening order doesn't keep NYC school bosses from cross-country jaunt.

At least eight Department of Education administrators went to San Diego for a three-day conference crawling with ed-tech vendors and startups..

Susan B. Edelman Apr 18

Despite a mandate by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to cut expenses, a group of NYC school administrators went to San Diego this week for an ed-tech conference with other educators and vendors galore.

The DOE would not not say how many people it sent to the ASU+GSV Summit April 12 to 15 while classes in city schools resumed after more than a weeklong spring break.

At least seven administrators are identified in a photo posted on Instagram by Queens South HS Superintendent Josephine Van Ess.

Besides Van Ess, the photo shows Chief Academic Officer Miatheresa Pate, Chief of the Office of Student Pathways Jane Martinez Dowling, two Queens high school principals and two assistant principals.

The summit, which spotlights artificial intelligence and digital platforms, is organized and co-hosted by Arizona State University (ASU) and Global Silicon Valley (GSV) – a venture/investment firm focused on education and technology.

Reps for tech companies and start-ups seeking to cash in on the lucrative education market show up in droves to meet college and school system leaders looking for new tools.

“Conferences like this are heavily attended by vendors seeking access to decision-makers,” a skeptical DOE teachers said. “That raises real concerns about influence, especially when we don’t see a clear connection to student achievement back in the classroom.”

The cost of attendee registration ranged from $2,450 to $3,850 per person, depending on when they signed up. Rooms at the Manchester Grand Hyatt overlooking the San Diego Harbor go for $393 to $510 a night.

How much budget money the DOE spent on the conference, including fees, travel, hotel and food, is yet unclear.

“Most trips were paid entirely with non-NYCPS funds or combined non-NYCPS funds with employees’ personal money. Some trips were paid for through NYCPS funds combined with personal money,” the agency said in response to questions.

Ed-tech vendors seeking to do business with NYC schools likely sponsored some of the cost, raising possible conflicts of interest.

“Trips were approved following proper protocols, including through the Ethics Office when applicable,” the DOE said.

Spokeswoman Isla Gething defended the expense, which included the staffers’ salaries.

“Attending conferences is a routine part of staying engaged with emerging trends, innovations, and research. ASU + GSV provides opportunities to engage with other leaders in education and bring back ideas that can drive meaningful impact in our classrooms.”

Moses Ojeda, the principal of Thomas Edison CTE High School, and two of his assistant principals, joined the travelers, along with Asya Johnson, principal of the fledgling HBCU Early College Prep HS.

Another superintendent who declined to be named also attended.

The cross-country jaunt comes amid Mayor Mamdani’s citywide directive to tighten belts in the face of a multibillion dollar deficit.

On Wednesday, Michael Cheatham, the DOE’s deputy chancellor for finance – and the department’s “Chief Savings Officer” – ordered a halt on OTPS (other than personnel services”) spending at headquarters.

“All trips were approved prior to the April 15 change,” the DOE said.

Changing Grades and Cheating on Tests Are Assets In the NYC Department of Education

 

Osman Abugana (photo credit: Helayne Seidman, NY POST)

Teacher Osman Abugana is, according to the NY POST, being once again investigated for changing grades after he was charged with doing exactly that in 2011 but was not terminated by the Arbitrator at his 3020-a discipline hearing.

I have been an advocate for charged employees of school districts throughout New York State for twenty years, and have worked on hundreds of 3020-a arbitrations. The NY POST asked me why Mr. Abugana was not terminated.

My answer: “The schools don’t want to get rid of somebody that’s willing to change grades. It’s an asset,” she told The Post. "Everybody wants somebody that will do that for them. They want to look good because they need to get funded. They need to get the money, and they don’t want to lose their jobs. They don’t want to go under review by the state. Everything is based on how well they do. So, forging and changing grades is a good thing.”

See the article in full, published below.

This has nothing to do with teacher tenure, but a culture of ignoring false information to pursue keeping funds at schools that should be held accountable for lack of teaching/good student performance

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com

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Brooklyn teacher NYC tried to fire decade ago for fixing grades is back in classroom and under fraud probe again: ‘No accountability’

By 

Gabrielle Fahmy and

 

David Spector

Published Dec. 13, 2025, 9:17 a.m. ET

The city Department of Education is once again investigating a bad teacher for fixing grades — more than a decade after trying to fire him for falsifying Regents test scores, The Post has learned.

Critics say it’s a case study in what is wrong with a school system where tenured teachers are protected by their powerful union — even when they are failing children miserably.

In June 2011, Osman Abugana, now 63, was accused of “inappropriately changing the scores from failing to passing” on the state Regents physics exam for five students at Medgar Evers College Preparatory, a public middle-high school in Brooklyn.

The deceit and dishonesty which the department finds to underlie this conduct are, in its view, moral failings which cannot be remediated,” according to a 2013 disciplinary opinion by a state-appointed arbitrator obtained by The Post.

The DOE called for Abugana, then a 19-year veteran of the system, to be fired.

Instead of firing him, the arbitrator suspended him for one semester and ordered him to take a course on proper testing and grading procedures.

While he was under investigation and his case was being adjudicated, he would have spent close to three years in a DOE “rubber room,” the notorious holding spaces where disgraced teachers get paid to do nothing.

Abugana is back in a classroom and makes $140,000 a year, records show. He is still teaching physics, now at Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn.

But his teaching skills, and his grading ethics, are still under scrutiny.

After receiving a complaint of recent grade fixing, Abugana’s principal, Allen Barge, reported the allegation to the DOE, The Post has learned.

“These allegations are very concerning and were promptly reported to the appropriate investigative office,” a DOE spokesperson told The Post Thursday, before declining further comment. “NYC Public Schools is committed to upholding the highest professional standards.”

Barge did not return calls, and the DOE would not say when the probe began.

When confronted by The Post outside school this week, Abugana refused to answer questions.

Students at the Midwood school told The Post Abugana is back to his old tricks — quietly boosting grades to keep kids from failing a class he can’t seem to teach to save his life.

“He’s not that good at teaching,” one physics student insisted this week. “It’s really unfocused. He needs guidance on how to actually teach.”

“Everyone in his class cheats on tests,” claimed another.

Critics said the case is emblematic of a broken tenure system.

“Once they get tenure there’s no accountability,” said Jean Hahn, vice-president of PLACE, a parent-led education advocacy group. “They’re shortchanging the students.”

Tenure is a form of job security Gotham teachers attain after only four years in the classroom, and which bring a host of guarantees, including the inability to get fired for wrongdoing without due process — even in the case of serious sexual misconduct allegations.

Back in 2011, a teacher was tenured after only three years on the job.

“Tenure is absolutely being exploited and abused for people to be able to keep their job regardless of what harm they do to children,” said state Assemblyman Member Sam Pirozzolo (R-Staten Island), former vice president of the New York City Parents Union, and who was part of a class-action lawsuit against the state over the tenure system.

He said the union “wants to protect teachers who have done bad things to their students. They don’t care about children, they only care about protecting their teachers.”

Betsy Combier, a paralegal who helps defend teachers in discipline cases, isn’t surprised Abugana quickly found his way back to the classroom.

“The schools don’t want to get rid of somebody that’s willing to change grades. It’s an asset,” she told The Post. “Everybody wants somebody that will do that for them.”

“They want to look good because they need to get funded. They need to get the money, and they don’t want to lose their jobs. They don’t want to go under review by the state. Everything is based on how well they do. So, forging and changing grades is a good thing.”

District 21 Acting Superintendent Erin Lynch-Reyes' Path To a Permanent Position In Trouble After Her Husband Attacks UFT Rep

A group of teachers at P.S./I.S. 225 wore black last week to show their support for teachers at P.S./I.S. 99. (Courtesy of UFT)

From Betsy Combier:

Speaking up against a principal or Superintendent can be dangerous (actions may lead to 3020-a charges and termination/retaliation), but if there is enough support by staff and employees, removal can happen.

See the stories of principals who have been removed and, the particularly disturbing story of Heather Jansen and her student Rat Pack:

Jansen claimed in a pending race-discrimination lawsuit against the DOE that Wilson unfairly removed her as principal of mid-island PS 46 in June 2023

Former Principal of PS 46 Heather Jansen and Her Student Rat Pack

I met Ms. Jansen when she testified at the 3020-a arbitration against my client, a teacher at PS 46. Jansen set my teacher client up by using what we ended up calling the "Rat Pack", and refused to listen to any evidence that the charges were frivolous and false. We won the case, the teacher was not terminated.

Jansen was so hated by staff and parents that a no confidence vote led by the UFT got her removed. She was given a job as a teacher at  PS 54 Charles W. Leng school.

Betsy Combier, Editor

betsy.combier@gmail.com

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Husband’s alleged online attacks against union rep spark calls to oust Brooklyn superintendent

 By Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, March 1, 2026

Calls to remove a south Brooklyn schools superintendent are mounting after her husband allegedly 
posed as someone else on social media to attack a union rep for local teachers.

Erin Lynch-Reyes

The saga began to unfold when Acting Superintendent Erin Lynch-Reyes’ bid to become the permanent 
leader of District 21 seemed to hit a roadblock over public acrimony between teachers and their 
principal at a school in her district. A key voice in that labor dispute was Adam Shapiro, the 
district representative for the United Federation of Teachers.

While not the direct target of the complaints, Lynch-Reyes found herself in the crosshairs. After 
the setback came to light, her husband, Miguel Reyes — according to the UFT’s general counsel, Beth 
Norton — allegedly struck back. Falsely claiming to be a staff member at the Midwood school named 
Jose Tricoche, he made a series of social media posts personally attacking Shapiro, the union 
claimed.

“The UFT has a good faith basis to believe that ‘Jose Tricoche’ is Ms. Lynch-Reyes’ spouse, Miguel 
Reyes,” Norton wrote in a Jan. 13 letter to Liz Vladeck, the top lawyer for the city’s public 
school system.

“The UFT demands that the department immediately cease and desist from engaging in fraudulent and 
defamatory online attacks of UFT representatives, including Adam Shapiro, and from unlawfully 
interfering with the union’s representation function in District 21.”

A spokeswoman for the public schools and Lynch-Reyes did not comment, and attempts to reach Reyes 
were unsuccessful. Alison Gendar, a UFT spokeswoman, said the letter “proved effective” and the 
“activity has stopped” since it was sent.

A local conflict spirals

When Lynch-Reyes, a 24-year veteran of public education, was tapped at the start of this school 
year as the interim superintendent of District 21 — from Coney Island and Brighton Beach to 
Bensonhurst and Midwood — it seemed like a perfect fit.

Before stepping into the role, Lynch-Reyes was the top deputy to Isabel DiMola, the local 
superintendent for 16 years until DiMola was promoted last summer to former city Schools Chancellor 
Melissa Aviles-Ramos’ second-in-command.

As deputy superintendent, Lynch-Reyes oversaw sweeping changes to the district’s reading 
curriculum. She also had experience as the principal of Intermediate School 096 Seth Low in 
Bensonhurst.

“I am committed to ensuring that every school in our district is a place of opportunity, 
innovation, and joy,” Lynch-Reyes wrote in a letter, introducing herself as the new temporary 
leader.

But months into the new job, Lynch-Reyes had a major problem on her hands.

At PS/IS 99 Isaac Asimov School of Science and Literature, teachers accused their principal, 

Hrysoula Niarhos, of micromanagement and mistreatment. The nonprofit education news source Chalkbeat 

New York reported six complaints have been filed about Niarhos with the city over allegations of 
improper behavior, while Lynch-Reyes continued to stand by her.

Soon, teachers across the district — then the city — were talking about PS/IS 99 and District 21.
Last December, teachers from 30 schools districtwide wore black to work one day in support of the 
PS/IS 99 staff. Michael Mulgrew, the United Federation of Teachers president, personally spoke out 
against the working conditions at PS/IS 99, which also cast a shadow over the district.

DiMola told UFT representatives — according to the union’s letter — that the attention received by 
PS/IS 99 and, in turn, District 21, had delayed Lynch-Reyes’ permanent appointment.

After the UFT was made aware of the delay, a social media user identifying themselves as “Jose 
Trioche” went on the attack, the letter alleges.

“I work at this school,” Trioche commented on a Dec. 16 Facebook post of the Chalkbeat article. 
“Adam does not like his truth to come out all he does is post lies.” The user continued by making 
troubling personal allegations about Shapiro.

When a teacher disputed that Trioche worked at the school and asked him, “Why hide who you really 
are??” the user responded: “Cause I finally have a platform where I can speak freely.”

Adam Shapiro, District 21 UFT Rep

Norton, the UFT’s lawyer, wrote that the union has a “good faith basis” to believe that “Trioche” 

is Miguel Reyes based on a review of his posts, residence and employment. Trioche also followed 
Lynch-Reyes’ friends and family on social media. The Daily News could not independently verify 
Trioche’s identity.

The fallout

In the aftermath of the UFT’s formal notice, a letter campaign was launched that asked city Schools 
Chancellor

Kamar Samuels not to appoint Lynch-Reyes to the permanent superintendency.

“The actions of Lynch-

Reyes and her husband do not reflect the values of our community nor do they model the core values 
of the [New York City Public Schools],” read the predrafted memo, which had resulted in 256 letters 
sent as of Friday. “We are asking you to refrain from appointing Erin Lynch-Reyes as District 21 
superintendent and find alternative candidates.”

Union members also came to Shapiro’s defense. “That’s not the man I know,” said Randy Adelson, a 
paraprofessional and UFT chapter leader at PS/IS 226 Alfred De B. Mason in Bensonhurst.

“Whether it was done with or without knowledge of [the] superintendent, I don’t know,” he added. 

“But it’s embarrassing, and it’s below the station of a superintendent. And I would really hope 
that’s not the case. … I don’t want our kids to see the adults supposed to be their role models 
fighting.”

Jay Brown, the president of Community Education Council 21, said he was aware of the allegations, 
but would not share or sign the petition, given the parent-led school board’s positive experience 
with Lynch-Reyes, whom he credited as an experienced educator. He pointed to efforts by the acting 
superintendent to make parents aware of math curriculum changes coming to the district.

“We just had a tragedy: A student killed by a yellow school bus in our district that’s a horrific 
situation,” Brown said. “But it’s the sort of thing where people are tested, and we were working 
very closely and at the school together with the mom of the deceased student. My own personal view 
of it is she excelled in that role in that moment.”

Lillian Crespo, a teacher and chapter leader at PS 216 Arturo Toscanini in Gravesend, lamented that 
PS/IS 99 teachers’ allegations against their principal had been “muddled” because of the 
allegations involving the superintendent’s husband.

But Crespo said she would still feel comfortable with the permanent appointment of Lynch-Reyes, 
given her “extensive knowledge” of the district having worked “hand in hand” with DiMola.

“She doesn’t have to let this tarnish her reputation — she just needs to handle it,” Crespo said. 
“I would like to see her live on in this role.”

NYC Department of Education Approved $750,000 in Catering Expenditures in 2025 at Fusion East Restaurant in Brooklyn

 

NYC Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, standing next to Mayor Eric Adams, speaks at a funding announcement on April 16, 2025.

From Editor Betsy Combier:

In 2002 Mayor Michael Bloomberg removed the NYC Board of Education in favor of the NYC Department of Education. What many people do not know is that the name remained, but the duties and responsibilities in the Education Law were given to the Panel For Educational Policy, part of the NYC Department of Education. Legally, the NYC DOE is still the NYC BOE, or NYC Board of Education. This "allows" the NYC Department of Education to get away with scams and hoaxes. My opinion and this is my final answer to any question.

I heard that Mike Bloomberg spent $2 million changing the logo and stationery of the "NYC Board of Education" to the "NYC Department of Education". I have no verification, however.

Anyway, and more importantly, the NYC Department of Education has flaunted their disdain for any Constitutional Federal or State Laws that limit what they want to do. When they want to terminate someone, they just make up a charge, file a problem code and place this code on the same database as that of the FBI, fabricate misconduct or incompetency information, hire an arbitrator who will support their baseless case, and push enough fake evidence into the mix to stop anyone from winning their continued employment at the arbitration stage or appellate level appeal. 

The hold that the NYC DOE has over the courts - State Appellate Division judges and Federal Magistrate and District Court judges - is an immense tragedy from a legal point of view, since laws are trampled and discarded and cases are either without reason or without evidence and/or facts. This is my opinion. I am not an attorney.

Even more shocking is the fiscal irresponsibility that the City Ed Department engages in with impunity, and the posted article below is just one example of thousands, happening every day, crying out for someone to do  something. Trust me, no one is. Dirty hands don't clean dirty stuff.

I think one thing is for sure. Mayor Adams is in charge of the DOE, so this new scam detailed below makes him look worse than ever, even after all the corruption he has been dealing with in his administration for the past 4 years.

Timeline of Mayor Adams' Corruption

betsy@advocatz.com

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EXCLUSIVE: Why did NYC Department of Education spend $745,000 at a single Brooklyn restaurant last fiscal year?e/ corruption cBy Shea Vance, August 1, 2025

The NYC Department of Education approved spending close to $750,000 on catering expenditures at one Brooklyn restaurant in fiscal year 2025, according to expense records and government communications obtained by amNewYork — raising concerns from City Comptroller Brad Lander over mayoral oversight of the city’s public school system.

In a March 5 letter to the DOE, obtained by amNewYork, Deputy Comptroller for Contracts and Procurement Charlette Hamamgian wrote that the Comptroller’s office had been made aware of a series of 13 consecutive invoices from Fusion East for events between Aug. 28 and Sept. 6, 2024. The 13 invoices — sent to the Brownsville Collaborative Middle School in Brooklyn — totaled to $19,998. 

Upon further review of expenses approved for food from Fusion East, the Comptroller’s office discovered over $1.4 million in expenses to the restaurant since 2016, according to expense records and communications obtained by amNewYork. Total expenses saw a marked increase in fiscal year 2023, when the department approved $81,637 in purchase orders to the restaurant, and then again in fiscal year 2024, when the department approved $470,686 in purchase orders. In 2025, approved purchase orders totaled $745,823, according to financial documents obtained by amNewYork.

Money on the menu in Brooklyn

Responding on May 30 to a May 9 letter from the Comptroller’s office raising concern about the “significant spike in purchase orders to Fusion East” between fiscal years 2022 and 2025, the DOE wrote that the “increase in spend is aligned with the mayor’s citywide goal of increasing the utilization of MWBE suppliers for goods and services,” according to the department’s response, which was obtained by amNewYork.

Fusion East, a Caribbean and soul food restaurant in Brooklyn, is a Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise DOE vendor, meaning the restaurant contracts with the government in a citywide effort to increase investment in MWBEs. 

Fusion

The payments for breakfast and lunch in 10 out of the 13 invoices made out to Brownsville Collaborative at the end of August 2024 exceeded the per-person amount allowed by NYC Comptroller Directive #6, Hamamgian wrote in her March 5 letter to the DOE, which requested a response by March 15.

Fusion East, Brooklyn

According to financial documents and communications obtained by amNewYork, the Brownsville Collaborative’s payments to Fusion East are part of a larger pattern of approved DOE expenditures to the restaurant that exceed the amount deemed acceptable by the Comptroller.

In a March 18 response to Hamamgian from DOE Chief Procurement Officer Elisheba Lewi, the department acknowledged “that Brownsville Collaborative violated regulations that govern the purchasing process” as laid out in the DOE’s Standard Operating Procedures and the Comptroller’s Directive #6.

Lewi wrote that the department would mandate a staff training at Brownsville Collaborative about purchasing procedures and require the school to “create and submit a plan for strengthening internal controls.”

“Financial responsibility is critical to the New York City Public Schools, and we worked closely with the Comptroller’s team to respond to these concerns,” DOE Deputy Press Secretary Jenna Lyle wrote in a statement to amNewYork. “We are the largest school district in the nation, and large purchase amounts are not uncommon in a system of over 1,600 schools and nearly one million students. No non-contracted procurement rules were violated, but we conducted our due diligence and took all necessary action here, including training this staff to avoid this issue in the future.”

Though the Comptroller’s office had discovered initial violations at Brownsville Collaborative, it raised a broader concern to the department about Fusion East invoices to various public schools — a pattern the department appeared to decline to review on a broader scale in its communication with the Comptroller’s office.

Brownsville Collaborative Middle School in Brooklyn.

“While the DOE has not conducted an agencywide review of all Fusion East transactions, our standard internal procedures include regular oversight, training sessions, and periodic audits across all schools and vendors,” the DOE’s May 30 letter to the Comptroller reads. “The DOE will review future transactions with Fusion East LLC to ensure compliance with Comptroller Directive 6.”

The DOE did not confirm the amount of approved expenditures to Fusion East in fiscal year 2025 in time for publication. However, the department’s May 30 response to the Comptroller does not dispute the office’s charge that schools had spent, at the time, “more than $618,324,” responding that the “increase in spending” over the years is “aligned” with aims to support MWBEs.

Lander’s office, however, is concerned that standard procedures have so far failed to limit excessive spending in the department. 

“When over half a million dollars of taxpayer money goes to a single restaurant, the lack of Mayoral oversight over City agencies like DOE is glaring,” Comptroller spokesperson Sara Azcona-Miller wrote in a statement to amNewYork.

In a statement to amNewYork, a City Hall spokesperson wrote that City Hall works “closely with the New York City Public Schools each and every day, and the results of our oversight of the schools speaks for itself — we are making historic progress in reading and math, expanding early childhood education programs, and reducing class sizes, just to name a few.”

“We work closely with our schools to maintain financial responsibility and a balanced budget, and they have addressed this situation appropriately,” the spokesperson wrote.

When reached for comment about the expenditures, Brownsville Collaborative Principal Gregory Jackson directed amNewYork to the DOE.

Fusion East founder and owner Andrew Walcott did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

************************************************************* 

and then there is this:

NYC middle school spent $20K in a week at one restaurant — with $600 in eggs, $200 worth of coffee and tea: docs

By 

Carl Campanile,

 

Susan Edelman and

 

David Propper

Published Aug. 6, 2025

Call it pork barrel binging.

A Big Apple middle school shoveled nearly $20,000 in a single week to a Caribbean restaurant in Brooklyn for orders of mountains of pork, chicken, oxtail and other soul-food staples — all on the taxpayers’ dime, invoices obtained by The Post show.

Brownsville Collaborative Middle School doled out $600 for trays of bacon and sausage, another $600 for scrambled eggs and a cool $480 for oxtail from Fusion East for dozens of people — part of a massive $745,000 tab racked up at the eatery by the Department of Education.

Coffee and tea for a large group cost $200 each while the orange juice cost $300, according to the paperwork.

The middle school made 13 catering orders to Fusion East on school days between Aug. 28 and Sept. 6 of 2024 — most of which exceeded city spending limits, officials said.

The Caribbean eatery, which offers a  customer-pleasing $5 special, provided seven lunches and six breakfasts during that span that contributed to the overall payment of $745,000 the Department of Education funneled to Fusion East in the past fiscal year that raised red flags with the city comptroller’s office.

The middle school, led by principal Gregory Jackson — who was arrested on drinking and driving charges in May — spent $2,930 on breakfast orders for about 100 people on two separate occasions, according to the invoices.

The orders included bacon and sausage, scrambled eggs, waffles and home fries, the invoices show.

The coffee and tea boxes cost $200 while the orange juice was a $300 expense.

About 100 people also feasted on lunches with two separate orders running up a bill of $2,410.

Those orders consisted of chicken and whiting that each cost $640, as well as rice and peas, mac and cheese, and collard greens, the invoices show.

Oxtails, jerk chicken and other sides was among a more modest order that only rang up the middle school for $830 for 50 people, according to another purchase order.

It’s unclear what events the catering was meant for — the orders were listed only as going toward “school events.” The first official day of school for students didn’t take place until Sept. 5, 2024.

On Wednesday, the DOE declined to tell The Post why the food, which was worth $19,998, was ordered — and who ate it.

The department previously admitted the middle school violated spending limits and said the school’s leadership and administrative teams underwent procurement training as a result of the high spending.

Fusion East owner Andrew Walcott, who is part of a program that connects minority and women-owned businesses with government agencies, said in an interview Monday that it took nearly eight months for the middle school to make those 13 payments.

Walcott said he had to email various officials and even threatened to go to the inspector general for the DOE before the payments were finally made.

“But it was 8 months non-payment and then they paid,” he said.

Jackson, the principal, faced legal trouble on top of the high spending last school year when he was arrested and charged with DWI in Brooklyn on May 5.

He allegedly slammed into several parked cars and then overturned on the night of May 5, police said according to a Daily News report.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges and has a court appearance set for Aug. 21.

His attorney, Paul Prestia, declined comment Wednesday.

“We are aware of the incident involving Principal Gregory Jackson,” a DOE spokesperson said. “As this is an open personnel matter, we are unable to comment further at this time.” 

*******************************************************************************

See also:

Eric Goldstein, Director of NYC DOE Office of School Support Services, is Arrested in School Food Corruption Scandal

SEVEN PLEAD GUILTY IN SCHOOL CUSTODIAN CASE 

American Progress on Mayoral Control and Student Achievement

GILL COMMISSION