Former NYC Chancellor Richard Carranza Makes It Official, Shacks Up With Former NYC DOE Senior Administrator

 

Raquel Sosa-Gonzalez and Former Chancellor Richard Carranza

When Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Richard Carranza, who was, at the time, schools boss in Houston Texas, as NYC Chancellor after  Alberto Cavalho suddenly turned down the job did anyone think that the choice of Carranza was legitimate? 

I didn't think so.

Lawmakers, parents blast de Blasio for selecting schools chancellor pick accused of sexual discrimination

First, this is New York City. Grabbing someone from Houston Texas rather than NYC where there are thousands of worthy people was already suspicious. Second, the word out on Carranza was not good and never changed. Rumors of his separation and divorce were heard very soon after he started. 

Raquel Sosa, his girlfriend, was brought by Carranza from Houston to NYC as senior director of ELL (English Language Learner) students in December 2018 at a starting salary of $149,000. In October 2019 Sosa got a raise to $156,274 and a new title as "senior director for development, support and implementation in the Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning", whatever that means. The NYC DOE is notorious for giving people titles that have no job descriptions or duties to match.

But hiring someone with whom you are in a relationship is frowned upon in NYC, but the NYC DOE does not seem to be very good at sifting out those who should not be on the payroll.

See here:

David A. Hay, NYC DOE Deputy Chief of Staff is Arrested

Richard Carranza accused of waiving rules to give pals high-paying jobs

Carranza did not care, and neither did Mayor de Blasio. As far as we know, Carranza was not reprimanded.

See this Post article published September 9, 2021

Carranza + Gal Pal's Tex 2-Step

The whole Carranza thing smelled fishy even after Carranza resigned suddenly in March 2021, mainly because a majority of NYC residents do not trust or like de Blasio anymore, calling him the worst Mayor ever. (worse than "Boss" Tweed?)

Now we have proof that something very wrong was going on, thanks to Sue Edelman and the NY POST, see below. 

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, Advocatz.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

Ex-chancellor Carranza shacking up with staffer he hired for six-figure job

by Susan Edelman, NY POST, September 4, 2021

Ex-NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza has left his wife for an administrator he brought from Houston to New York for a six-figure Department of Education job.

Raquel Sosa, who quit the DOE just last week, and Carranza now list the same luxury high-rise condo in San Antonio, Texas, as their current address, records show.  

Their relationship appears to confirm a complaint that Carranza used his powerful position to favor pals, but one that city school investigators did not touch.

In December 2018, eight months after Carranza became NYC chancellor, his administration named Sosa, a Houston elementary school principal, “senior director of ELL (English Language Learner) newcomers and students in temporary housing” with a starting $149,000 salary. 

In October 2019, Sosa got a lofty new position — “senior director for development, support and implementation in the Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning,” officials said. Her salary increased to $156,274 in 2020.

Sosa worked remotely until mid-July. Her last day was Aug. 31, said DOE spokeswoman Katie O’Hanlon. 

Carranza quit his $363,346-a-year chancellor’s job in March — with schools still in session amid the pandemic — after leading the nation’s largest school system for nearly three years. He explained he had to mourn loved ones lost to COVID-19, but promptly took a job with an ed-tech vendor with millions of dollars in DOE  contracts

Last week, Carranza and Sosa posted the same cheek-to-cheek Facebook profile photos

Carranza, 54, makes no secret of their romance. He has commented on various photos of Sosa, 47, making remarks such as “Absolutely gorgeous mi vida!!!!”

On Aug. 12, when Sosa posted a video of a Mariachi concert, Carranza wrote,  “Thank you for joining me, mi amor. Te amo.”  

Sosa met Carranza when he served as Houston’s school superintendent. Formerly Sosa-Gonzalez, she was already divorced when she moved to NYC. 

Richard Carranza and his wife, Monique, filed for divorce in Brooklyn Supreme Court in
August 2020. [photo:Matthew McDermott] 

Carranza was married. His wife, Monique, filed for divorce in Brooklyn Supreme Court in August 2020, and eventually moved back to California while he remained on the job in the city. They have two children. She did not return calls. The divorce is not final, according to court records.

The hiring of Sosa and two other friends from California, where Carranza was schools superintendent in San Francisco, generated a complaint in early 2019 to the Special Commissioner of Investigation for NYC schools, The Post revealed.

A whistleblower letter said DOE put them on the payroll in 2018 “at the direction of chancellor Carranza,” without advertising the openings, as usual, and without interviewing other candidates.

At the time, Carranza called the criticism a form of bias against him as “a man of color.”

The SCI said this week, “This case has been closed,” and  “no further information is available.” 

A spokeswoman refused to say whether SCI investigated the allegations, or why it closed the case. She insisted that Mayor de Blasio had no influence on its decisions.

Another woman named in the complaint to SCI, Martha Martin, was a San Francisco teacher who met Carranza when he was that city’s schools superintendent. Hired in October 2018, the DOE named her associate director for community and family empowerment in the Division of Multilingual Learners, with a $119,587 salary. Martin resigned in October 2019, the DOE said. A spokeswoman gave no reason.

Also named was Abram Jimenez, then vice-president of Illuminate Education Inc., a California ed-tech firm doing business with NYC schools. He was named “executive director of continuous school improvement,” a newly created title that now doesn’t exist. Jimenez quit that  $205,416-a-year job in July 2019 as The Post prepared to reveal he held stock in software vendor Illuminate Education, an apparent conflict of interest.

Carranza and Sosa did not respond to requests for comment.

Islip Long Island Parent Calls Cops After School Pulls Maskless Child From Class

Islip Middle School

The 2021-2022 school year just started, and all hell is breaking loose.

The story below portends what might be happening this week, tomorrow, next month. Police, lawyers, lawsuits, and perhaps even violence will be the route some of the very angry parents and/or employees in school districts around the country will take due to the COVID-19 fear so many people feel right now. And major media is not helping. Indeed, much of the global hysteria we all can see happening on our TV and computer screens as well as in our homes is due to the media and inconsistent/extreme policy decisions by our Federal, state and local governments. By "extreme" policy I mean mandates that try to cover everyone and punish all who don't agree.

Emergency situations bring corruption and fraud to the public eye because everyone wants to know whom to blame. The magnifying glass is pointed at anyone or any agency with a voice or title.

Of course, this is a new situation.  Never before has the global community had a COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters happening at the same time, and there are many people who believe and promote the end of the world. We should not go there. Extreme fear immobilizes, but also spurs new ideas and shines a light on what we all need to fix. It takes more than a village.

Is there a solution? No, there is no one-way out. Is there relief from the vortex of injustice that seems to be swirling around devastated communities?

Yes, I believe so. New avenues of common aid, rescue and relief are being created. New supply chains are being used. The world is capable of amazing breakthroughs in science where diseases and natural disasters are being confronted and victims are being helped. Look for it.

I suggest that instead of looking for the news in major media or in the speeches of politicians - which actually are paid advertisements - anyone seeking answers to current issues should go to a source, local media, scientific journals, health organizations, etc., who have feet on the ground. Get out there and volunteer, or help someone from afar. Be part of the answers.

From Common Dreams:

"One of the few silver linings of this tragedy is that it does offer us the opportunity to take stock of ourselves, our communities, our state, and our country. In the advocacy community, it’s forcing us to drill deeper into how we can help build a more equitable and just society through our response to this pandemic."

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, Advocatz.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

Parent calls cops after maskless students pulled from class at New York school

By Jesse O'Neill, NY POST, September 3, 2021

A Long Island parent called the cops after their child and five other middle school students were pulled out of class for not wearing masks, police said Friday.
The six students at Islip Middle School were moved to the gym by a security guard Thursday over their non-compliance with the mask rule, according to Suffolk County Police.

A police spokesperson told The Post officers “took a report” — but that the situation was “not really a police issue.”

The school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening, but Islip Superintendent Dennis O’Hara has said that students who refuse to wear a mask will face consequences.

“As discussed with our community previously, any district student who does not adhere to the mask mandate will be brought to an alternative location where students are advised to either put on a mask or wait for their parent/guardian to pick them up,” O’Hara told ABC7.

The New York State Department of Health announced last week that all public and private school students and faculty members would be required to wear masks indoors.

Teachers at War Against NYC Department of Education's Mandate That Employees Must Get Vaxxed by Sept. 27 2021

 

A teacher protesting COVID-19 vaccination mandates in New York City schools on August 25, 2021.

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

A new war has started.

The Department of Education has a mandate that all unvaccinated staffers who do not have at least one shot against COVID-19 by September 27 will be removed from payroll, no exceptions - medical or religious - will be allowed.

Teachers have hired a lawyer to fight this.

See here:

Vaccine Mandate Litigation Information

If you work for the Department and have issues with getting the COVID vaccine, call them.

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, Advocatz.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

UFT President Michael Mulgrew

NYC teachers union ready for war over demand to pull all unvaxxed from payroll

by Selim Algar, NY POST, September 2, 2021

The United Federation of Teachers is gearing up for a war with the city over the fate of more than 15,000 educators who have yet to receive the COVID-19 vaccination — with classes set to begin in days.

Teachers union chief Michael Mulgrew said Thursday that City Hall has vowed to remove all unvaccinated staffers from payroll without exception — including those with religious or medical objections.

“Our impact negotiations with the city have gone to a very bad place,” Mulgrew told reporters after a Town Hall with members. “It’s clear that the two sides are very very far apart when it comes to this vaccine mandate.”

The union said it would now seek to arbitrate the issue along with other labor groups.

While he has consistently urged members to get the shot, Mulgrew said the city’s position was unreasonably rigid — especially for those with legitimate medical concerns.

The union chief said that staffers who are allergic to the jabs or have compromised immune systems should not be financially penalized.

“The city’s position is to remove them from payroll.” he said. “That is disgusting as far as I’m concerned. And it does not follow the law. The law says that these accommodations and exemptions have to be in place.”

The UFT said the city’s policy would also strip unvaccinated teachers of their health insurance.

During his meeting with members, Mulgrew focused on religious and medical accommodations.

But he later told The Post that the procedure for teachers who don’t receive either exemption but still refuse the vaccine is still being negotiated.

While he was confident that more teachers would get vaccinated ahead of the school year, which begins on Sept. 13, Mulgrew acknowledged the specter of staffing shortages — and said the city has not adequately prepared for those contingencies.

Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross-Porter reiterated this week that substitutes could be marshaled if necessary.

In backing the vaccine mandate for all public school workers, Mayor Bill de Blasio has argued that it would help to combat outbreaks and minimize school interruptions.

“We know this is going to help ensure that everyone is safe,” he said in announcing the plan.

Some union factions have demanded blanket vaccinations, arguing that those who don’t get the shot are putting their colleagues and others at risk.

DOE staffers have until September 27 to get their first shot and an agency spokesperson said that an accord is within reach.

“The health and safety of New York City children and the protection of our employees is at the core of the vaccine mandate,” said spokesperson Danielle Filson. “We will continue to negotiate with the UFT to reach a successful agreement because that is what’s best for our school communities.”

As of last week, the city said that 72 percent of city teachers and 63 percent of all school staffers are confirmed to have been vaccinated.

The city has said that the number of vaccinated teachers is likely higher than the official numbers because many have gotten the shot through private doctors or out of town.

The UFT estimated the number of jabbed educators to be 80 percent.

Mulgrew acknowledged during the Town Hall that the vaccine mandate has riven his ranks, and asked members to dial down the internal rancor — especially on social media.

“Please be respectful of each other,” he said in urging unity ahead of the new academic year.

The NYC Department of Education Believes in Changing Grading Policy to End Any Impact of Attendance, Participation and Behavior

Students, teachers, administrators and counselors listen as principal Malik Lewis (second from left) 

teaches them a history lesson at West Brooklyn Community High School in New York.

AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File

Many children need to have incentives to learn and achieve their personal best. For this reason, we oppose the Department of Education's suggestion that grades don't matter and “non-mastery” measures like behavior, attendance and participation should not impact grades.

If no one at a school cares whether or not students attend classes, the students will not care either. And they won't go to class. A very important part of educational practice is getting kids to class on time, and engaged in the lesson. But outcomes are important as well, not only to show colleges and universities and/or higher educational institutions that learning is important but also to demonstrate to yourself as well as the world that you can be productive. Students of any age feel better about themselves when they succeed in learning something new.

I doubt that the Department can be serious about this non-grading of attendance because the school receives Federal and State funding according to the number of seats that are filled in a class. This is "seat time". So, unless all Principals will be given license to lie about how many students are present on any given day, this new practice will not work. Then again, our belief is that principals are not transparent about student-on-student violence, so this may be just another box to tick off on a sheet.

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, Advocatz.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

By getting rid of grades and honor rolls, NYC’s education department will hurt the kids it claims to want to help

By Kyle Smith, NY POST, September 1, 2021

NYC wants schools to rethink honor rolls deemed ‘detrimental’ to students not making grade

By Selim Algar, NY POST, August 31, 2021

They’re remaking the grade.

The city Department of Education wants schools to rethink honor rolls and class rankings because they’re “detrimental” to some kids, according to a new grading guidance.

“Recognizing student excellence via honor rolls and class rank can be detrimental to learners who find it more difficult to reach academic success, often for reasons beyond their control,” the document states.

The DOE wants schools to widen recognitions to include “contributions to the school or wider community, and demonstrations of social justice and integrity.”

That advisory is part of a larger set of grading imperatives that seek to entrench and further a new concept of student assessment.

“Grades are not only a reflection of student performance but can be self-fulfilling prophecies,” the document states. “Influencing future student performance either directly through their psychological impact or indirectly through instructional decisions, placement in courses, and guidance in post-secondary options.”

The DOE wants more emphasis on evidence of progress and the mastery of individual “learning goals” rather than the cumulative quality of assignments and tests.

If a new exam score shows improvement, the DOE advises teachers to disregard or lessen the influence of the prior showing.

“Rather than just averaging the two assessments, replacing the score or part of the score is a more valid measurement of student achievement,” the guidance states.

The DOE said overall performance is taken into account.

“We have the highest academic standards for our kids,” said spokesperson Sarah Casasnovas. “Our grading policy mirrors pre-pandemic expectations, and as always student grades are first and foremost based on academic progress and performance.”

Parent leader Rasheedah Brown Harris applauded the approach.

“We can’t neglect that folks are going through a lot,” she said. “We’re talking about learning loss when people are trying to survive. We want to make sure that they are learning the overall concepts. We can’t get too concerned with the nitty-gritty of testing and grades.”

Deborah Alexander, of Community Education Council 30 in Queens, worried that lessening the impact of work throughout the year could de-incentivize performance.

“What are we telling them?” she asked. “That the process isn’t important as long as you get the material at the end.”

The guidance also reiterated that “non-mastery” measures like behavior, attendance and participation should not impact grades.

Given pandemic disruptions, the DOE said these categories are often impacted by personal circumstances not under the control of students.

Staffers should “minimize the effects of bias and eliminate practices that penalize students who have been marginalized based on their race, culture, language and/or ability.”

The DOE also wants teachers to cede some authority over learning goals and proficiency markers to students and parents.

Educators are advised to “invite students and families to offer meaningful input and engage in decision making about how students will learn and demonstrate proficiency on course goals and co-create learning goals with teachers.”

While she said she supported collaboration, Alexander said the DOE’s concept undermines their professional authority.

“We send our kids to schools to benefit from the value of teachers and their expertise,” she said.

Brooklyn College and CUNY Grad Center education professor David Bloomfield said he backed the spirit of the new guidance in light of ongoing coronavirus upheaval.

Aimee Scott Teaches "Fairness" With Band-aids

Aimee Scott

""fair does not mean everyone gets the same thing, fair means that everyone gets what they need to be successful," They remember this lesson all year," 

Aimee Scott told FOX News

Teacher's viral 'Band-Aid lesson' is the simple way to teach kids fairness

By Genevieve Shaw Brown, Fox News, August 26, 2021

 A third-grade teacher from Utah has gone viral with a simple lesson she uses in her classroom. 

Aimee Scott told FOX News she decided to create the video of her "Band-Aid lesson" after meeting with several parents worried for their children at the start of the school year. The idea was to share it with other teachers so they could use it in their classrooms too.

"At the beginning of the year, parents come rushing in with their concerns about their children," Scott said. "They tell me all of the things that they are worried their children will be teased about. Type 1 diabetic children who need extra snacks to regulate their blood sugar and have beeping Dexcom monitors, students with ADHD who need flexible seating or fidget toys to help them concentrate, anxious students who need extra time on tests. The list is endless." 

On the first day of school, she asks her students who has ever scraped their elbow in the class. She lets one kid tell their story of how their elbow got hurt and then calls them up and puts a bandage on their elbow. 

Next, she asks who has ever bumped their head. She calls on one student to tell the story of the bumped head and then calls them to the front where she puts a bandage on . . . their elbow.

Repeat for a scraped knee. 

By this time, the kids are confused. She stops the lesson and has a conversation about how she gave everyone the "exact same thing in the exact same way, it wasn't helpful to them." That "fair does not mean everyone gets the same thing, fair means that everyone gets what they need to be successful," Scott said in her TikTok video, which has been liked nearly 800,000 times.

"After this lesson, students are much more understanding when their friends with diabetes need an extra snack, when their friends with autism need noise-canceling headphones, when their friends with ADHD need a fidget spinner and they can't have one," she said.

Scott told FOX News her kids "love this lesson." 

"Before I started my teaching career, another teacher told me that there would be days I would need to pretend I was an underpaid actress," she said. "I make a big deal when I give students a band-aid in the lesson, it's more engaging and fun that way. When I tell students, 'I am so sorry you bumped your head! Here's a Band-Aid for your elbow!' the whole classroom giggles. 

"I love the conversations we have at the end of the lesson to talk about how fair doesn't mean we all get the same things," Scott told FOX News. "One example I give is, 'Sometimes you might see a friend using a timer to help them complete an assignment, but that stresses you out, so you don't have to use a timer.' Every time I hear, 'Why does ______ get _____ ? That's not fair!' I just need to say, 'Remember Band-Aids?' They do. They remember this lesson all year."

 It's helpful for worried parents, too. 

"It calms their fears about sending their children to school," she said. They know they are going to be accepted by their peers if they need something extra in the classroom. Many parents have shown their child's teacher my video to help introduce them to the class. Those [comments][ make me the happiest because that is why I created the video."

NYC Department of Education Settles With Four Students Who Claimed They Were Sexually Abused at Their School.

 

Tweed- NYC Department of Education 

The Office of Special Investigations is a unit of the NYC DOE's Office of General Counsel where so-called "investigations" are anything but that. We have been writing about OSI for a very long time, and we have seen proof at 3020-a hearings of exactly what misconduct by this agency looks like. OSI never investigates students, only staff, educators, and parents. Online Occurrence Reports System (OORS) reports go nowhere but to the desk drawer of an administrator.

I will give you a few examples:

A teacher gives a high school girl in his physical education class a failing grade. Soon after, a complaint of sexual abuse is filed against him by this girl. The complaint is sent to first the Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI), then SCI randomly hands the case to OSI. The OSI "investigator" comes to the school and talks with the principal, who tells this "investigator" what to find and whom to interview. The principal wants the teacher removed from the school to please the parents, and show that "perverts" are not allowed to teach. Whether there is any truth to the allegation is not considered.

The "investigator" is given a room where he/she "interviews" the students sent there by the principal. The students/staff chosen to be interviewed often write statements or sign statements written for them, substantiating whatever "crime" the principal wants to be proven. Statements that have too many details about the incident and how the teacher was not guilty of doing anything (exactly what the principal does not want in the final report substantiating the misconduct) are not put into the report, lost, or ripped up.

The "investigator" hands his/her handwritten notes to an attorney or higher up at OSI who writes the report based upon what the principal wants to prove, and the alleged 'crime' is substantiated, if that is what the principal wants or was told by the Superintendent or Chancellor's rep. that that's what they want.

Then the principal calls in the teacher who allegedly committed the 'crime' and has a disciplinary meeting. At this meeting, the principal and/or UFT Rep. may tell the teacher "this may lead to your termination" and/or "this will be a letter to file, don't worry". The teacher is led to believe that there is no need to write a rebuttal, because this is the end of it. Make note of the fact that nothing the accused teacher says is heard ("listened to" is different than "being heard"), and no amount of "I am innocent" "I did not do this" will make any difference. The accused teacher should write a detailed rebuttal and send it to everyone at the meeting by the next day, or within a few days. No one will tell you this from the UFT.

These lies told to the accused at the disciplinary meeting help the lawyer at the District to craft Technical Assistance Conference (TAC) memos, which become charges. The lawyers at the Office of Legal Services (NYC DOE Office of General Counsel) send the "Notice of Determination of Probable Cause Pursuant to Education Law 3020-a" to the principal (or, sometimes the Superintendent) to sign but not date. The principal sends the signed fraudulent notice back to the lawyer writing the charges, who dates all the papers and takes the rest of the papers (i.e. "Rights of Tenured Educators" ) off a shelf. 

The teacher who was accused of wrongdoing is served the charges, re-assigned to a rubber room, and within 10 days must submit his/her request to the UFT for a 3020-a hearing or be voted out and terminated by the Panel For Educational Policy (PEP). All this occurs despite the fraudulent charging procedure without proper determination of probable cause by the PEP in an Executive Session, which is kept secret. Why? Because both the NYC DOE and the UFT have kept the fraud going for 20 years since Bloomberg put the NYC DOE under Mayoral control. If either the NYC DOE or UFT agrees that the charging process is illegally done, then what happens to all the 3020-a cases brought to a hearing in NYC? (Outside NYC, all charges have a vote on probable cause by the school board before the charges are served on the accused educator, as cited in Education Law 3020-a(2)(a)).

The lies of the charging process are held onto and pursued against the interests of the accused educator as part of the goal to get rid of tenure. Thus, the fraud of OSI doing any "real" investigations was never planned or allowed, unless the accused knows someone in the political sphere of the DOE or NYC/federal government. It's always a matter of who you know, not what you know. Under no circumstances could the NYC DOE allow charged educators to go free or be found not guilty after a complaint is made by a staff member, parent or child.

See previous posts:

The Chancellor's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) Mess

Bureaucracy Turns a Hero Into a Rogue

Phil Nobile on the Misconduct of Chancellor Carmen Farina, and on the Cheating at Cobble Hill, Circa 2006 Which was covered Up. Badly

Secret Emails About Office of Special Investigations Being in Chaos 2014

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, Advocatz.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

City Pledges To Change Policies Investigating Sexual Misconduct In Schools In Settlement With Students

BY JESSICA GOULD, WNYC, Gothamist

The New York City Department of Education has settled a case with four students who claim the school system failed to protect them against sexual harassment and assault, according to a settlement brief filed in the U.S. District Court of Eastern New York on Friday. Along with a $700,000 monetary settlement split amongst the plaintiffs, the education department also agreed to reform how it investigates and responds to allegations of sexual assault.

“I want justice for everybody,” said the mother of “Jane Doe,” a student with autism who alleged she was raped by a classmate in a school stairwell in the Bronx in 2018.

“Due to that traumatic event, my child suffers every day,” the mother said in an interview with WNYC/Gothamist. She added that the settlement won’t “cure” what happened to her child, but it may prevent others from suffering.

Legal Services NYC filed the suit representing four female students of color with disabilities in spring 2019. Their names have been withheld because of their ages and the nature of the incidents. At the time of the assaults, the students ranged from ages 12 to 18.

Jane Doe and another plaintiff alleged they were raped by classmates after harassment that intensified over months. Two other plaintiffs claimed they were taunted, groped and assaulted by other students.

The suit alleges that, even though the students had been repeatedly harassed by their peers leading up to the assaults, the schools did not intervene effectively, investigate adequately or notify parents in a timely manner. The education department’s “indifference and inaction” denied students their right to education under Title IX and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the lawsuit read.

The education department had already tightened some policies. In fall 2019, it rolled out new regulations expanding the definition of what constitutes sexual harassment, explaining how administrators should conduct investigations, and outlining some supports for students who come forward. The New York City Council increased funding in the Fiscal Year 2020 city budget to pay for additional Title IX liaisons tasked with overseeing investigations at the borough level. The education department also ramped up training for thousands of staff members, including school-based “Sexual Harassment Prevention Liaisons.”

The new settlement seeks to strengthen those regulations even more. They would make it easier for parents to escalate complaints. They detail the steps school staff must take to inform parents when an alleged incident occurs. They enable students to be transferred from a school because of alleged sexual harassment. And they offer more specifics on how schools should support survivors, including considering trauma when crafting a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP).

“Every student deserves to feel safe, welcomed, and affirmed in their school and there is zero tolerance for sexual and gender-based harassment of any kind at the DOE,” education department spokesperson Katie O’Hanlon said in a statement. “We have made it easier to report harassment and provided more robust trainings for staff so that the strongest safeguards are in place for all students, especially for our students with disabilities.”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs lauded the changes.

“We believe this settlement will better equip school personnel to respond to the trauma of bullying and sexual violence, and will provide critical information to students and families about their rights under the law,” said Amy Leipziger, Senior Staff Attorney at Queens Legal Services.

“These landmark policy reforms will finally force the DOE to recognize that students who experience the disabling impacts of sexual violence, bullying, and trauma are protected under federal disability law and are entitled to receive special education supports and other interventions,” said Katrina Feldkamp, a Staff Attorney at Bronx Legal Services.

The mother of “Jane Doe” said her daughter, now 17, remains traumatized.

“She has her breakdowns,” said the mother. “She can’t focus as she did before. She lost a lot of interest in a lot of things, she’s depressed, she has nightmares.”

“Money will not bring peace to our life,” she added. “We need action.”