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| Annie Seifullah |
The Story of Sex, Lies, and Photographs: Former Principal Annie Seifullah Still Works at the New York City Department of Education
While Seifullah helmed the school, her ex-lover, the father of a student, accused the married mom of cheating on him with a school security guard and an assistant principal. The dad turned over DOE computers with photos of Seifullah posing in black lingerie and engaged in sex acts and sexually explicit texts on her DOE cellphone.
The story of Annie Schmutz Seifullah is very complicated. She was investigated for sleeping with a former student, the father of a current student, the AP, a school security guard at the school. The list may be a lot longer than is currently known.
While looking into what happened in this case I received a call from a very anxious former para professional who worked at Robert F. Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology HS. This person told me that she saw Annie Seifullah kissing a boy about 17-18 years old, a student at the school, outside the school early in the morning. She did not want to give the investigators her name, for fear of retaliation.
The PA President, a dad with a son at the school, moved in with Ms. Seifullah for a while. When the relationship fell apart in 2014, the dad, Robert Sofia, revealed photos which were on Ms. Seifullah's computer. Ms. Seifullah claimed that the photos on her school computer were planted there.
The investigation was recently concluded:
Office of Special Investigations Seifullah Report (2014-hidden from the public until 2016)
and there's more. She is now suing the Department for her removal, claiming she was removed because she is a woman. Her lawyer claims that she is out on LODI from 2015 to the present.
Seifullah Summons and Complaint
I think that is baloney.
Ex-principal cleared in school sex probe sues for gender bias
Ex-principal banned for sex scandal back in the classroom
An ex-principal banned from working with students after her involvement in a sex scandal was nonetheless assigned to teach at one of New York City’s worst schools, The Post found.
Annie Schmutz Seifullah, 36, was teaching English at Automotive HS in Greenpoint, Brooklyn — a long-struggling school with 98 percent boys — despite a Department of Education probe into accusations of misconduct after her alleged affair with a parent.
“It’s like sending a cougar into the cub’s den,” a shocked insider said.
After an inquiry by The Post, DOE officials admitted Seifullah was supposed to be “reassigned away from students” — and that her placement in Automotive HS classrooms this fall “was an error.”
Seifullah “ran out of the building” in distress last Monday when students confronted her about her scandalous history and racy photos allegedly found on her DOE computer.
“They were harassing her because they found out about her,” said ninth-grader Muhammad Choudhary. “They searched her up, found her on the Internet and told everybody else.”
The DOE said it is now seeking to fire Seifullah, a year after her ouster as principal from Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology in Long Island City, Queens.
While Seifullah helmed the school, her ex-lover, the father of a student, accused the married mom of cheating on him with a school security guard and an assistant principal. The dad turned over DOE computers with photos of Seifullah posing in black lingerie and engaged in sex acts and sexually explicit texts on her DOE cellphone.
“Her behavior was unacceptable and inappropriate as an employee of the DOE,” said spokeswoman Devora Kaye. A DOE probe found she misused DOE “technology” and “committed theft of service.”
On May 1, Seifullah was demoted from principal to teacher, and her salary slashed from $142,890 to $66,326. She has tenure as a teacher but not as a principal.
Kaye did not explain how Seifullah wound up teaching at Automotive HS, which is under the gun to improve this year or face a state takeover. A special hiring committee led by Principal Caterina
Lafergola had to review and approve all teachers brought into the school this year.
Mayor de Blasio held a press conference at Automotive to tout his “Renewal program” to pour hundreds of millions into 94 failing schools.
Renewal executive superintendent Aimee Horowitz had to know about the hiring of Seifullah, an insider charged.
“Principal Lafergola would not go to the bathroom without checking with Aimee Horowitz,” the source said. “This was not an error. This was cronyism pure and simple — at the highest level.”
Students said Seifullah came to Automotive to replace a substitute for a teacher who had moved. It didn’t take long for kids to Google their instructor and discover a Post article and photos published after her ouster.
Seifullah has claimed the accusing dad threatened her after she broke up with him and stopped paying his child-support bills. She referred a reporter to her lawyer, Pete Gleason, who declined to comment.
Second principal booted amid school sex probe
By Susan Edelman, Frank Rosario and Daniel Prendergast May 6, 2014
A Bronx assistant principal has been booted from his post for traveling to a Queens school allegedly to have sex with the principal there — as sexts between the pair surfaced Tuesday.
Dany Velazquez, an assistant principal at PS 5, has been reassigned pending a city Education Department probe into his alleged sexcapades with Annie Schmutz Seifullah, which were first reported by The Post.
Seifullah, principal of the Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology in Long Island City, had already been reassigned amid the shocking allegations that she had sex with two men, including Velazquez, at her school during class hours.
Seifullah’s ex-boyfriend, the dad of a student at her school, described for The Post alleged raunchy texts between Seifullah and Velazquez, including one in which he wrote, “Next time I want to f–k you in the office.”
Seifullah allegedly responded, “First you have to ,” the ex said.
But Seifullah flatly denied the allegations, telling The Post on Tuesday that she never had sex inside the school and is simply the victim of her ex, who used her money and then exposed her kinky hobbies when she quit paying his way.
The Queens principal said her jilted ex-lover was trying to produce a reality show about his life.
“I thought he loved me and that he was protecting me,” Seifullah said in the Manhattan office of lawyer Peter Gleason.
“The reality is that I was played for a fool.”
Seifullah said her ex lied about her having sex at school.
Seifullah said he hacked into her computers and cellphones to stir up drama as part of a $60,000 development deal he supposedly had with Bravo.
But when he allegedly found text messages between Seifullah and Velazquez that suggested they had sex at her school — along with pictures of her engaged in sex acts — she says her ex threatened to expose her.
She wound up giving him $18,000 to pay for rent and child support for his kids, she said.
“I considered going to authorities and lawyers about everything, but I was just so afraid of all the threats he made against me and how it would ruin my life and ruin the life of everyone that I knew if I didn’t keep supporting him,” she said.
Seifullah said when she finally ended the relationship, the scorned ex approached investigators with lewd photos and text messages he allegedly found on Seifullah’s Department of Education-issued cellphones and laptops, claiming she got down and dirty at the school.
The ex also turned over audio and video in which a woman, identified as Seifullah, allegedly admitted to engaging in oral sex with an NYPD school safety agent and Velazquez in a book storage room during school hours.
She said she was forced to say those things, which she claimed never really happened.
Seifullah is estranged from her husband. She said Velazquez isn’t married.
Principal removed after sex-in-school probe
By Susan Edelman, NY POST, May 4, 2014
A Queens principal was yanked from her school amid shocking allegations she had sex with a guard, an assistant principal and a parent, had trysts in school while classes were in session, and had photos of her sexcapades on department laptops.
Annie Schmutz Seifullah, 35, principal of the 7th- to 12th-grade Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology, in Long Island City, was escorted from the school Thursday as investigators seized computers and other electronics from her office and home, The Post has learned.
“We are appalled by these disturbing allegations and acted swiftly to remove the principal while the matter is under investigation,” a Department of Education spokesman said. “This type of alleged behavior is completely unacceptable for any DOE employee.”
Her sudden removal comes after a romance-gone-bad with a student’s dad. The angry ex turned over three DOE laptops he obtained while living with Seifullah, including MacBooks containing photos of herself in racy lingerie and in various sex acts, including a threesome, he told The Post.
He also gave investigators a video and audio tape in which a woman he identified as Seifullah acknowledged engaging in oral sex with an NYPD school-safety agent in the school security office, and with a visiting assistant principal in a book-storage room during school hours.
“I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t know why I thought it was OK,” she tells the furious dad in the taped conversation, after he accuses her of cheating on him.
“You gave him (expletive deleted) while my child was in the building,” he roars at one point.
The dad, a 40-something entrepreneur, also gave excerpts from a letter he says Seifullah wrote, admitting she hooked up twice with an “old lover.”
“The second (time) was a visit to my school that led to a sexual encounter which included brief oral sex in a hidden location,” the letter states.
The dad, whose name is being withheld to protect his child’s privacy, said he came forward because Seifullah — the mom of a toddler son — “played me for a fool.”
“Ms. Seifullah clearly used her power and position as principal to .?.?. seek several sexual partners at her school,” he charged.
The principal helped the dad financially, once giving him $10,000, plus $500 and $300 money orders, records show. Her salary is $136,959.
On April 11, 2013, she testified in Queens Family Court as a character witness for the dad in his custody fight. She spoke as both his child’s principal and as “his girlfriend.”
“So far our relationship has been discreet and people don’t know about it,” she testified, insisting that his child would get no special treatment.
City policy does not forbid educators from dating colleagues or the parents of students. However, if favoritism or mistreatment occurs, the employee could be cited for a conflict of interest. Having sex inside a school or placing sexual images on school equipment could lead to misconduct charges.
An insider said it was “highly unusual” for a principal to be removed pending a probe, and indicates allegations of “extreme misconduct.”
But on Facebook last July, she posted a photo of herself with the father, naming him and declaring with a heart icon: “A single dad walked in the office of my school and swept me off my feet.”
Seifullah took down her Facebook page after The Post called to ask about the scandal. “I can’t talk without permission,” she said.
Seifullah filed for divorce last summer and moved in with the student’s father. They split up in March and her divorce is pending.
The NYC Department of Education violated the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) by never giving me the OSI report, requested in my November 2015 FOIL request. Please note that the date of the OSI Report is December, 2014.
RE: F11,306
Betsy Combier, Editor / Reporter
NYC RUBBER ROOM REPORTER
betsy.combier@gmail.com
November 23, 2015
Mr. Joseph A. Baranello
Central Records Access Officer
Office of the General Counsel
New York City Department of Education
52 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007
JBaranello3@schools.nyc.gov
FOIL@schools.nyc.gov
Dear Mr. Baranello:
Under the provisions of the New York Freedom of Information Law, Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, I hereby request to receive E-mail copies of:
1) any and all documents, letters, emails, videos, tapes, or pictures relating to the investigation of Principal Annie Schmutz Seifullah of Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology in Long Island City.
2) The complete investigation with all notes and recommendations that relate to OSI case #14-03690X, or any other OSI or SCI case which mentions Annie Schmutz Seifullah and Dany Velasquez, or any parent or student, including any mention of Robert Sofia or his son.
3) Any and all disciplinary decisions, comments or other documents with the name "Annie Seifullah" mentioned in any way.
If the records have been removed from their original locations, please cause a diligent search to be conducted of all appropriate file rooms and storage facilities.
If any record has been redacted, please identify which categories of information have been redacted, and cite the relevant statutory exemption(s).
If you have any questions relating to the specific record(s) or portion(s) being sought, please phone me at 212-794-8902 so that we may discuss them.
RELEVANT ADVISORY OPINIONS
www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/ftext/f13952.htm
www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/ftext/f14287.htm
RELEVANT LOCAL LAW
As you know, the Freedom of Information Law requires that an agency respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request. Therefore, I would appreciate a response as soon as possible and look forward to hearing from you shortly. If for any reason any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of the reasons for the denial in writing and provide the name and address of the person or body to whom an appeal should be directed.
Sincerely,
Betsy Combier
F11,837 Acknowledgement
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
Mr. Baranello - REALLY?
Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
While looking into what happened in this case I received a call from a very anxious former para professional who worked at Robert F. Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology HS. This person told me that she saw Annie Seifullah kissing a boy about 17-18 years old, a student at the school, outside the school early in the morning. She did not want to give the investigators her name, for fear of retaliation.
The PA President, a dad with a son at the school, moved in with Ms. Seifullah for a while. When the relationship fell apart in 2014, the dad, Robert Sofia, revealed photos which were on Ms. Seifullah's computer. Ms. Seifullah claimed that the photos on her school computer were planted there.
The investigation was recently concluded:
Office of Special Investigations Seifullah Report (2014-hidden from the public until 2016)
and there's more. She is now suing the Department for her removal, claiming she was removed because she is a woman. Her lawyer claims that she is out on LODI from 2015 to the present.
Seifullah Summons and Complaint
I think that is baloney.
 |
| Annie Seifullah and her brother Kent |
Ex-principal cleared in school sex probe sues for gender bias
Ex-principal banned for sex scandal back in the classroom
An ex-principal banned from working with students after her involvement in a sex scandal was nonetheless assigned to teach at one of New York City’s worst schools, The Post found.
Annie Schmutz Seifullah, 36, was teaching English at Automotive HS in Greenpoint, Brooklyn — a long-struggling school with 98 percent boys — despite a Department of Education probe into accusations of misconduct after her alleged affair with a parent.
“It’s like sending a cougar into the cub’s den,” a shocked insider said.
School principal fired for 'having sex with security guard and parent during school hours' was given a new job this fall in a predominately boy's school
- Annie Schmutz Seifullah, 36, was banned from working with students after her involvement in a sex scandal at a Queens school last year
- Seifullah was accused of sleeping with a guard, an assistant principal and a parent on campus at her previous school in Queens
- But she was given a new teaching job at Automotive high school in Brooklyn this fall - which has 98 percent boys
- A Department of Education spokesman told The Post Seifullah was supposed to be 'reassigned away from students'
- The spokesman added that her placement in Automotive classrooms this fall 'was an error'
- Her racy past came to light after students Googled her and confronted her about her scandalous photos
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| Attorney Peter Gleason, former Principal Annie Seifullah, private investigator Vincent Parco |
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| Annie Seifullah's Company |
After an inquiry by The Post, DOE officials admitted Seifullah was supposed to be “reassigned away from students” — and that her placement in Automotive HS classrooms this fall “was an error.”
Seifullah “ran out of the building” in distress last Monday when students confronted her about her scandalous history and racy photos allegedly found on her DOE computer.
“They were harassing her because they found out about her,” said ninth-grader Muhammad Choudhary. “They searched her up, found her on the Internet and told everybody else.”
The DOE said it is now seeking to fire Seifullah, a year after her ouster as principal from Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology in Long Island City, Queens.
While Seifullah helmed the school, her ex-lover, the father of a student, accused the married mom of cheating on him with a school security guard and an assistant principal. The dad turned over DOE computers with photos of Seifullah posing in black lingerie and engaged in sex acts and sexually explicit texts on her DOE cellphone.
“Her behavior was unacceptable and inappropriate as an employee of the DOE,” said spokeswoman Devora Kaye. A DOE probe found she misused DOE “technology” and “committed theft of service.”
On May 1, Seifullah was demoted from principal to teacher, and her salary slashed from $142,890 to $66,326. She has tenure as a teacher but not as a principal.
Kaye did not explain how Seifullah wound up teaching at Automotive HS, which is under the gun to improve this year or face a state takeover. A special hiring committee led by Principal Caterina
Lafergola had to review and approve all teachers brought into the school this year.
Mayor de Blasio held a press conference at Automotive to tout his “Renewal program” to pour hundreds of millions into 94 failing schools.
Renewal executive superintendent Aimee Horowitz had to know about the hiring of Seifullah, an insider charged.
“Principal Lafergola would not go to the bathroom without checking with Aimee Horowitz,” the source said. “This was not an error. This was cronyism pure and simple — at the highest level.”
Students said Seifullah came to Automotive to replace a substitute for a teacher who had moved. It didn’t take long for kids to Google their instructor and discover a Post article and photos published after her ouster.
Seifullah has claimed the accusing dad threatened her after she broke up with him and stopped paying his child-support bills. She referred a reporter to her lawyer, Pete Gleason, who declined to comment.
Second principal booted amid school sex probe
By Susan Edelman, Frank Rosario and Daniel Prendergast May 6, 2014
A Bronx assistant principal has been booted from his post for traveling to a Queens school allegedly to have sex with the principal there — as sexts between the pair surfaced Tuesday.
Dany Velazquez, an assistant principal at PS 5, has been reassigned pending a city Education Department probe into his alleged sexcapades with Annie Schmutz Seifullah, which were first reported by The Post.
 |
| Yahya Seifullah, Annie Seifullah's former husband |
Seifullah’s ex-boyfriend, the dad of a student at her school, described for The Post alleged raunchy texts between Seifullah and Velazquez, including one in which he wrote, “Next time I want to f–k you in the office.”
Seifullah allegedly responded, “First you have to ,” the ex said.
But Seifullah flatly denied the allegations, telling The Post on Tuesday that she never had sex inside the school and is simply the victim of her ex, who used her money and then exposed her kinky hobbies when she quit paying his way.
The Queens principal said her jilted ex-lover was trying to produce a reality show about his life.
“I thought he loved me and that he was protecting me,” Seifullah said in the Manhattan office of lawyer Peter Gleason.
“The reality is that I was played for a fool.”
Seifullah said her ex lied about her having sex at school.
Seifullah said he hacked into her computers and cellphones to stir up drama as part of a $60,000 development deal he supposedly had with Bravo.
But when he allegedly found text messages between Seifullah and Velazquez that suggested they had sex at her school — along with pictures of her engaged in sex acts — she says her ex threatened to expose her.
She wound up giving him $18,000 to pay for rent and child support for his kids, she said.
“I considered going to authorities and lawyers about everything, but I was just so afraid of all the threats he made against me and how it would ruin my life and ruin the life of everyone that I knew if I didn’t keep supporting him,” she said.
Seifullah said when she finally ended the relationship, the scorned ex approached investigators with lewd photos and text messages he allegedly found on Seifullah’s Department of Education-issued cellphones and laptops, claiming she got down and dirty at the school.
The ex also turned over audio and video in which a woman, identified as Seifullah, allegedly admitted to engaging in oral sex with an NYPD school safety agent and Velazquez in a book storage room during school hours.
She said she was forced to say those things, which she claimed never really happened.
Seifullah is estranged from her husband. She said Velazquez isn’t married.
Principal removed after sex-in-school probe
By Susan Edelman, NY POST, May 4, 2014
A Queens principal was yanked from her school amid shocking allegations she had sex with a guard, an assistant principal and a parent, had trysts in school while classes were in session, and had photos of her sexcapades on department laptops.
Annie Schmutz Seifullah, 35, principal of the 7th- to 12th-grade Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology, in Long Island City, was escorted from the school Thursday as investigators seized computers and other electronics from her office and home, The Post has learned.
“We are appalled by these disturbing allegations and acted swiftly to remove the principal while the matter is under investigation,” a Department of Education spokesman said. “This type of alleged behavior is completely unacceptable for any DOE employee.”
Her sudden removal comes after a romance-gone-bad with a student’s dad. The angry ex turned over three DOE laptops he obtained while living with Seifullah, including MacBooks containing photos of herself in racy lingerie and in various sex acts, including a threesome, he told The Post.
He also gave investigators a video and audio tape in which a woman he identified as Seifullah acknowledged engaging in oral sex with an NYPD school-safety agent in the school security office, and with a visiting assistant principal in a book-storage room during school hours.
“I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t know why I thought it was OK,” she tells the furious dad in the taped conversation, after he accuses her of cheating on him.
“You gave him (expletive deleted) while my child was in the building,” he roars at one point.
The dad, a 40-something entrepreneur, also gave excerpts from a letter he says Seifullah wrote, admitting she hooked up twice with an “old lover.”
“The second (time) was a visit to my school that led to a sexual encounter which included brief oral sex in a hidden location,” the letter states.
The dad, whose name is being withheld to protect his child’s privacy, said he came forward because Seifullah — the mom of a toddler son — “played me for a fool.”
“Ms. Seifullah clearly used her power and position as principal to .?.?. seek several sexual partners at her school,” he charged.
The principal helped the dad financially, once giving him $10,000, plus $500 and $300 money orders, records show. Her salary is $136,959.
On April 11, 2013, she testified in Queens Family Court as a character witness for the dad in his custody fight. She spoke as both his child’s principal and as “his girlfriend.”
“So far our relationship has been discreet and people don’t know about it,” she testified, insisting that his child would get no special treatment.
City policy does not forbid educators from dating colleagues or the parents of students. However, if favoritism or mistreatment occurs, the employee could be cited for a conflict of interest. Having sex inside a school or placing sexual images on school equipment could lead to misconduct charges.
An insider said it was “highly unusual” for a principal to be removed pending a probe, and indicates allegations of “extreme misconduct.”
But on Facebook last July, she posted a photo of herself with the father, naming him and declaring with a heart icon: “A single dad walked in the office of my school and swept me off my feet.”
Seifullah took down her Facebook page after The Post called to ask about the scandal. “I can’t talk without permission,” she said.
Seifullah filed for divorce last summer and moved in with the student’s father. They split up in March and her divorce is pending.
The NYC Department of Education violated the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) by never giving me the OSI report, requested in my November 2015 FOIL request. Please note that the date of the OSI Report is December, 2014.
RE: F11,306
Betsy Combier, Editor / Reporter
NYC RUBBER ROOM REPORTER
betsy.combier@gmail.com
November 23, 2015
Mr. Joseph A. Baranello
Central Records Access Officer
Office of the General Counsel
New York City Department of Education
52 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007
JBaranello3@schools.nyc.gov
FOIL@schools.nyc.gov
Dear Mr. Baranello:
Under the provisions of the New York Freedom of Information Law, Article 6 of the Public Officers Law, I hereby request to receive E-mail copies of:
1) any and all documents, letters, emails, videos, tapes, or pictures relating to the investigation of Principal Annie Schmutz Seifullah of Robert Wagner Secondary School of Arts and Technology in Long Island City.
2) The complete investigation with all notes and recommendations that relate to OSI case #14-03690X, or any other OSI or SCI case which mentions Annie Schmutz Seifullah and Dany Velasquez, or any parent or student, including any mention of Robert Sofia or his son.
3) Any and all disciplinary decisions, comments or other documents with the name "Annie Seifullah" mentioned in any way.
If the records have been removed from their original locations, please cause a diligent search to be conducted of all appropriate file rooms and storage facilities.
If any record has been redacted, please identify which categories of information have been redacted, and cite the relevant statutory exemption(s).
If you have any questions relating to the specific record(s) or portion(s) being sought, please phone me at 212-794-8902 so that we may discuss them.
RELEVANT ADVISORY OPINIONS
www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/ftext/f13952.htm
www.dos.state.ny.us/coog/ftext/f14287.htm
RELEVANT LOCAL LAW
As you know, the Freedom of Information Law requires that an agency respond to a request within five business days of receipt of a request. Therefore, I would appreciate a response as soon as possible and look forward to hearing from you shortly. If for any reason any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of the reasons for the denial in writing and provide the name and address of the person or body to whom an appeal should be directed.
Sincerely,
Betsy Combier
F11,837 Acknowledgement
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
F11,837 update
Mr. Baranello - REALLY?
Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
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