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| DeWitt Clinton Principal Pierre Orbe |
If a teacher does not change his/her grades as ordered by Principal Orbe, guess what happens? You guessed it! You get 3020-a charges made up to remove you from the school.
That is how NYC works. Commit fraud, or else.
Or, how about this: grades are secretly changed, then the Principal charges the teacher with 3020-a after accusing the teacher - who did not do anything.
It may seem like you can't win. Whether you obey Orbe or you dont. Staff needs to document everything, at all times.
Carmen, what say you?
Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, NYC Public Voice
Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials
Principal repeats grade-fix trick that got last one ousted: staff
Grade-fixing is still in the curriculum at a high school in
Mayor de Blasio’s embattled “Renewal” program.
Former
principal Santiago Taveras was removed from DeWitt Clinton HS in The Bronx in
November after investigators found he improperly
changed grades and
retaliated against an assistant principal who refused to pass an undeserving
student.
Yet on the
heels of that scandal, complaints to the DOE have emerged that Taveras’
successor, Pierre Orbe, a 39-year-old first-time principal, pressured teachers
to fix grades.
Teachers allege
they were summoned individually to a “Fall Semester Final Grades Meeting”and
handed packets with an “agenda” and grade-changing forms. Teachers sat across a
table from Orbe, who expressed dissatisfaction with how they had calculated
final grades.
“He wanted to
coerce the teachers into changing grades instead of doing it himself,” a school
source told The Post. “He made it clear that if they didn’t comply, there would
be consequences. Eventually some teachers gave in because they couldn’t take it
anymore.”
A letter sent to Department of Education officials says Orbe
told a teacher to recalculate the final grades for four failing students,
insisting the lowest possible score in a marking period be 45 percent — even if the kid never
showed up.
“He told me to fill out a grade-change form and write down
‘miscalculation’ as the reason,” said the teacher. The teacher refused.
Another
teacher, who assured Orbe that his students “received the grades they earned,”
said the principal became “confrontational.”
Orbe questioned
the teacher’s “inability” to calculate an average, the teacher said. “The tone
of the meeting made me feel disrespected.”
The teacher did
not change the grades, noting that Orbe had already referred the students for
“credit recovery” — online courses given to failing kids as a last
resort.
At least 12
students put in the quickie courses don’t qualify under DOE rules because their
attendance was below 66 percent, insiders said.
Now Clinton is
in the cross hairs of the “highest authorities” of the DOE, Orbe wrote in a
stern memo to staff.
“This issue is
on the radar of the DOE . . . This issue could be large and it won’t be this
principal who fails for this,” Orbe wrote. He warned that teachers will take
the blame if grades are “miscalculated” — even though he approved the changes.
Clinton, with
nearly 1,700 students , is one of the biggest
schools in the mayor’s Renewal program, which is pouring an extra $754 million
into 75 struggling campuses.
The
100-year-old school boasts an honors program and winning sports teams, but admits
many low-performing kids. Last year’s graduation rate was 46 percent, with only
19 percent deemed college-ready.
Taveras was
paid $198,000 last year, including a $25,000 bonus and overtime, the DOE said.
He was demoted to “educational administrator” in a Bronx office making
$149,826. Orbe, whose base salary is $148,658, previously was vice principal at
Talent Unlimited, a 500-student performing-arts school in Manhattan. Orbe did
not return messages.
The DOE said it
is investigating.
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| Santiago "Santi" Taveras |
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