Sunday, March 22, 2015

Marcella Sills Replacement at PS 106 in Rockaway uses same tactics

It is clear that the Farina/deBlasio administration has followed in the path of its predecessor BloomKleinites in protecting lousy, insane principals.
[PS 106Q Principal] Legions is married to the brother of a PS 106 dad who was friendly with Sills. The staff fears she is bent on retaliating against Sills’ detractors... NY Post
Sometimes the Post does some good things. It was only when they exposed Marcella Sills - for all the wrong reasons - that she was removed from the school and is still probably on the payroll in some cushy DOE version of supervisor rubber rooms - though would anyone be shocked to find she was still being used in some nefarious fashion? My beef with the Post was that the years of Sills' onslaught on teachers was left out of the story -- it was teacher whistle blowing that led to the story being told -- and believe me, there were years of ignored whistle blowing by the DOE and most of the press -- except Howie Schwach and I in The Wave.

Now we find her successor and apparent friend has been put in place to wipe out the anti-Sills whistle blowers. [Sills by the way came into power under the Kathy Cashin administration in Region 5 - Dist. 27 and 19].

Ed Notes had gads of stories in Sills and PS 106. Supt and Sills protector Lloyd-Bey was forced into retirement but I do not believe it was because of that but due to her not being on the Farina team. Here are a few ed notes recent posts -- use the search box to see years of them.
Feb 23, 2014
I read the misconduct report and could not believe the lies Ms. Sills put forth. I am a former teacher at this school and I was actually glad when she wouldn't arrive. I would have time to teach to the students needs. When she ...
Jan 13, 2014
Ms. Sills has not really cared about students well being or academic progress. She has a political hierarchy she has developed to intimidate teachers and parents. Meetings were held by parents to address the over-priced ...
Jan 17, 2014
I am one of the teachers who was unfortunately disrespected, abused and suffered greatly under the incompetent leadership of Principal Marcella Sills at PS 106Q. As a matter of fact, at this writing I am still involved in a ...
Jan 13, 2014
And a teacher just called saying she actually met with Kathy Cashin about this school when Cashin led Region 5 and in essence hired Sills - though we think Lloyd-Bay was the mover. She said Lloyd-Bey sent over district ...

New ‘School of No’ principal drawing ire of teachers

http://nypost.com/2015/03/22/new-school-of-no-principal-drawing-fire-from-teachers/
Post story below the break.


The new principal of the infamous “School of No” has sparked a staff exodus and fired a teacher who blew the whistle on her hooky-playing predecessor.

Rachelle Legions, who replaced fur-clad, BMW-driving Marcella Sills at PS 106 in Far Rockaway, lets unruly kids run wild, scolding staff instead, teachers say. And she reported that a teacher who was pushed down a stairwell by kids “fell,” an insider told The Post.

“You have someone who can’t handle the students and treats the staff like garbage,” said former teacher Rob Trager. “We call her ‘Legions of Doom.’ ”

Legions is married to the brother of a PS 106 dad who was friendly with Sills. The staff fears she is bent on retaliating against Sills’ detractors. She dismissed Trager in February, four months after he testified against Sills at her Department of Education trial on charges of fraud and misconduct.

Legions, 51, took over last April after investigators confirmed a Post report that Sills frequently went missing from work and arrived at school hours late, but collected her full $128,000 salary. The Post dubbed it the “School of No” because students lacked books for the Common Core, gym and art.

DOE spokesman Harry Hartfield said, “Ms. Legions has worked hard to make progress at PS 106.” Officials said the allegations would be investigated.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why is it that district 27 seems to have cornered the market on corrupt principals and assistant principals? And is Mary Barton one of DeBlasio's and Farina's "people"?

Anonymous said...

No one cares that's why. A principal can do and say whatever they want and can write whatever they want and just stick it in your file and that's it. What the principal writes is considered fact and therefore believable even when its complete garbage and not true at all. Teachers have no rights, even with the UFT who are useless. Having spent time in this school I can tell you first hand that what is reported is accurate. The teacher pushed down the stairs specifically told the AP right in front of me she was pushed down the stairs by this child and the entire class saw this as well. So even after another teacher witnessed this teacher tell the AP exactly what happened and how she was pushed, administration instead decided to file a report leaving out the important factual information that the teacher was pushed and instead just put the report in the system as the teacher fell. It is beyond unethical but the DOE sees absolutely no issue with administration filing false reports or not even filing incident reports at all. Administration decides what they should or shouldn't file. If administration unethically filed a false report regarding this teacher and what happened, there is no doubt they have filed erroneous observation reports on teachers branding them ineffective. Why? Well because they can write whatever they want into an observation report also and its fact. Who is going to check? Furthermore who is going to care? The UFT? Nope not in the slightest. Kids in that school run around wild fighting and hitting one another, bullying other students and are out of control. This happens in and out of the classroom making it nearly impossible for some teachers to teach the students who actually do want to learn. It really is a shame, but I'm sure the DOE will do their half assed investigation and say everything is fine as usual. The Quality Review done by Mary Barton gave the school environment proficient. That is a far cry from reality and had she even spoken to some of the teachers in the building or cared to get the real story she would have seen how out of control the students in the school are. The only thing she cares about and the new principal (who by the way just anointed herself principal and took Interim Acting off of all paperwork even though she never actually went through a C30 process and was officially appointed principal) is the test scores. If they can show they went up 2% that will justify everything for the superintendent and this principal. Its a joke.

Anonymous said...

Norm, reading this post today. Still contend that Lloyd-Bey was also a victim. I know her well enough to say that she is not complicent in this mess. Someone had to put a TREMENDOUS amount of pressure on her to stay away. Hopefully one day the real truth will come out.

ed notes online said...

i have proof that lloyd-bey was a major sills protector as she was with every abusive principal -- one of farina's best moves was forcing her into retirement. her sister tho is a big shot at tweed.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for writing this.

I have a friend who is a teacher there. I hear a lot of stories from her about the abuse between Legions and the staff. The teacher is not tenured and is terrified of being rated ineffective simply if Legions doesn't like her. She seems to be the type of principal that will find anything to rate a teacher ineffective. What are some advice for her and for teachers who are facing these sorts of problems with abusive administrators?

Anonymous said...

I also have a friend who works at PS 106 and I was told that Ms. Legions is not the type of principal that is abusive. Actually, she is just the opposite. She is the type of principal that engages in bringing about a community effort throughout the school and within the surrounding community.
I was informed that Legions has changed the school from the school of “No” to the school of “Yes”. I hear that she welcomes the parents into the school with enthusiasm, not like the previous principal Sills who was not welcoming to parents at all. I also hear that Ms. Legions has all kinds of events to welcome parents into the school such as, (Open School Week, Harvest Festival, Parent Engagement - Professional Learning Teacher Teams, June Family/Friends Celebration, Art Fair, Science Fair and so on). PS 106 is the recipient of “Build-a Better School Award, a grant was also received from Councilman Dononvan Richards for Promethean Boards in every classroom, Skanska USA Building gave a donation of school supplies and Jinga construction made a Lighthouse Statue outside in front of the school building and they also give gifts to students and lunch to the staff throughout the year.
I also hear that many of the old staff didn’t want this principal (Legions), because of her intelligence. She has a lot of great ideas and most of all her number one concern is that the students are learning. I hear that she has implemented many new programs into the school such as, LLI (Leveled Literacy Intervention) to help boost students reading levels, Cloud Nine World, which is a program to help change the school culture to positive behavior, Mastery Connect, which is a tool to track mastery of any standard, Mathletics, which support classroom instruction in Mathematics and improvements in students' achievement levels, Teacher Team Support, a STEM lab, and a host of other programs.
As far as tenured or untenured teachers being terrified of being rated ineffective, Ms. Legions has to follow the protocol of observing teachers as per Chancellor Regulations. The teachers receive feedback from her about where they excel and where they may need additional support so that she can provide support for their growth. If a teacher is not excelling, professional development is provided for them. I also hear that the teachers receive on going professional development in the school and outside of the school.


Anonymous said...

I just stumbled on to this page after massacre that just happened this June to the staff of PS106. This "friend" of Legions seems very familiar to the operations of the school... as if this person is a bit self conscious of public opinions of her and needs validation. How amusing.

Nevertheless I was a staff at PS106 this past year and I will not be going back. Mainly because the administration Rachelle Legions and Hazel Ann Lewis have been harassing the staff of this past year. There were incidents where operations of the school was just poorly ran, retaliation against teachers, allowing teachers to be physically harmed by students without consequences, legal actions filed against a teacher and even the firing of a pregnant teacher! (Think that's a lawsuit waiting to happen.) The list goes on...

But I want to let everyone know, that this school is not going to improve when the administration doesn't treat their staff well. The administration doesn't care about the teachers other than the bottom line, and if that's the case, there will never be improvements to 106 that will last. I'm very sorry that these great teachers that had to endure this year and I hope you will fight it through. You shouldn't lose to the likes of them.

As for the wise new teachers who have stumbled upon this article of PS106. My advice: DO NOT TEACH AT THIS SCHOOL. It is NOT WORTH the hassle. Find somewhere that the admins will respect you and nurture you.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I just stumbled onto this page as well and to see the hateful words (massacre) that was display by someone on July 3, 2016, makes me wonder if you are a staff member who was originally employed at PS106 during the reign of Principal Marcella Sills.
You see I hear that a few of those staff members were not used to having to work up to their potential, which made it difficult for them to work under Ms. R. Legions because she encourages everyone to work to their best potential.
If staff members are not working up to their potential and are not doing what is asked of them then they will not receive effective on their evaluation. That is not called harassment by Ms. Legions or Ms. Lewis, it is grading the teacher by observing them per Chancellor Regulations.
PS106 is not poorly run. It has made a 360 degree turn for the better since Ms. Legions came to the school. I believe you know that in your heart, but because possibly you are one of the staff members who didn’t score effective or highly effective and if that is the case you should move on to another school. Hopefully there, you will score high, but if you come under a principal with the intelligence as R. Legions you should just leave the Department of Education and if you are old enough to retire, maybe you should take that route.
Be mindful that every school in New York City is dealing with aggressive behaviors from some students. It’s happening all over and you are aware of that, I am sure. PS106 has a procedure in their school just like every other school has.
PS106 has improved greatly and you know that very well. Please stop posting negative comments about the school, perhaps because you were not able to keep up with the demanding work or whatever your personal issue is.
For the new teachers who are interested in teaching at PS106 you will be welcome to a school community that encourages you to work to your best potential. I hear that PS106 goal is for all children to learn so that they can become productive citizens. As a teacher, you have to be patient, caring and want to help children succeed no matter what behaviors they may display. You have to truly love children, be empathetic and want to help them succeed.
Someone I know that works at PS106 gave me this quote that Ms. Legions wrote to the staff,
“We learn something from everyone who passes through our lives… Some lessons are painful, some are painless… but, all are priceless.”
Does this sound like a principal who does not want their school to succeed? Does it sound like someone who harasses their staff? PLEASE DO NOT BELIEVE THIS INDIVIDUAL! This sounds like someone who is disgruntled. I hear PS106 is the place to be! I will visit it this year myself to see if I can help in anyway.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Principal Mrs.Rachelle Legions of P.S.106- Far Rockaway Queens has turned the school of NO to the school of YES. It is said, "Talk the talk, walk the walk". Mrs. Legions exemplifies the qualities of principal leadership. EX:A new STEM Lab (science & technology room), Mathematics by 3P Learning, Cloud Nine World, Learning Partners Plus (LPP) and iReady, just to name a few. Mrs. Legions shows that she really cares for the students in her school. In the past the parents didn't feel welcome at P.S.106Q. Since Mrs. Legions became principal she has made the parents feel at home. EX:September- Parent Teacher Welcome Bash, November Harvest Festival and June Celebration. Some may seem to feel that Mrs. Legions is hard on the staff. It is not harshness at all. She believes in pulling the potential out of all who work in P.S.106Q because she cares and wants to set the bar of learning at a higher level. Her door is always open if anyone has concerns or suggestions. I believe in giving recognition when I see a person is doing what is right and is worth it.

NY Teacher said...

I taught at this School. I'd like to speak with you. Please email me at NYteach74@gmail.com and I will reply. I hope you see this message.

NY Teacher said...

I saw your post and also taught here. Please email me at NYteach74@gmail.com
I'd like to speak with you. I hope you see my reply.

NY Teacher said...

What she does is harassment with a smile. When people are in her pocket they post like you do. Tell me how many men teach in that school now? None

NY Teacher said...

Shes no good just like sills was no good. Keep kissing her ass

NY Teacher said...

Your post is so wrong you haven't a clue. As to I that was there I can tell you how bullying and violence were overlooked. How students were promoted that shouldn't have been. You are also wrong on many other things but just would like to tell you what you "hear" is complete rubbish because unless you were actually there you don't know and are talking out the side of your mouth. I hear astronauts crap in bags in space but you know I wasn't there so I can't say. Don't talk about what you don't know about. Clearly someone who has connections to legions in some form.

Anonymous said...

You sound like someone that needed to leave that school. I am sure that the staff and children will not miss you. You deserve to move on. Thank goodness they will not have to deal with your negative vibe in that school anymore. Goodbye!!

Anonymous said...

Recognizing a person for doing a good job is not kissing ass. There is the Open Market for all those who are not happy where they currently are.

NY Teacher said...

You are as clueless as they come. What is negative is everything about that place from the forbear principal to the new one who knows the old one. The cycle of abuse continues. Passing kids to next grade that don't deserve to be, ignoring violence and bullying and making up things for observations is failed leadership at its finest. So many kids bullied and nothing done. Get a clue. And kids now in grades they shouldn't be will fall further behind. Yea great leadership

Anonymous said...

Who ever you are, YOU ARE FULL OF S****T.

Anonymous said...

Dear disgruntled person who left PS106Q. I want to thank you for wasting your time trying to discredit a great principal for changing a school that you could no longer fit into. You see people like you don't deserve to be a part of a school community that is thriving. You and all of your crony teachers who left because of your ineffective and inability to teach children has enable PS 160 to prosper and elevate to higher standards. Stop wasting the public time with your hatred. Get a life and move on! No one wants to hear your negative rants. You can't even write effectively. I see why you all are gone. I'm not going to waste my time responding to you anymore because anyone reading this can see that you have an issue and that issue has made you who you are and that is a BITTER and MISERABLE person.

NY Teacher said...

Bitter and miserable huh. Amazing how so many effective teachers were branded ineffective once the new ineffective leader took over. You don't need to respond because you are wrong. And prosper ahahahhana. The schools rating is abysmal and most students are years and years behind reading and math. If that's what you call prosperous you should get your head examined. I'm sure there is a lot of empty space up there. Two brain cells left with one chasing the other. That school is a joke and should be shut down. As far as a great principal she broke the contract several times and continues to do so on a daily basis. Her ass will eventually be handed to her as well when someone is injured or killed in that school because that wonderful principal you speak of is a proponent of bullying and violence. Also anyone reading this that has experience with this school and isn't afraid to speak up and speak the truth would say the same thing you brownnoser. Go kiss legions ass

Anonymous said...

GET OVER IT, LEGIONS IS HERE TO STAY.

Anonymous said...

You are such a sad person. I would never brownnose anyone because I don’t have to, but I know you did. You are a very sick person. Brains is something I have and something you will never, ever have. You leaving PS106 is the best thing that could have ever happened. I bet you were one of the bullies in that school that caused a lot of problems and it backfired. I bet any students that were in your class were many grades behind. That’s why the staff had to work so hard to bring your students that you left behind for someone else to pick up your mess. You are pathetic!! Careless and Brainless!!
Can anyone see that this person never said one nice thing about the children in the school. Do you know why? Their only interest was getting a check and cashing it. They didn’t care or like the children that attended this school. This person/s possibly didn’t even live in the neighborhood. They are clueless to the needs of the children and I’m sure didn’t have any type of expectations for the students to succeed. They sprue hatred to make themselves feel better, cursing and vomiting up evil words on a website. So Sad!! Would you want someone who felt this way about the school they previously worked at to teach your child? Not, one kind word did they utter. They didn’t even engage in dialogue about how they wished they could have contributed to making the school better. Do you know why? They were part of the problem!!!

Anonymous said...

GET OVER IT!!! LEGIONS IS HERE TO STAY!!!!

NY Teacher said...

Your really just have no clue. It amazes me that someone with so little knowledge of the school operations now and for the previous 9 years that sills was there destroying the school. As for Brains I have one that as well as numerous degrees and life achievements. Sills and this disgusting other woman destroy careers. So let's go point by point. The students in my classes all improved in reading and math numerous levels. Still have the files and data to prove it including letters from parents to validate that. See when you teach at a shithole like that you need all the evidence you can have from your own data and parents. Mind you this is many years of teachers there reaching into their own pockets and hard earned money to buy school supplies, books and to create their own curriculum because most of the time there was nothing. But you know everything. As far as not caring about students teachers that don't wouldn't spend their own hard earned money to support the children in their classes when they have their own families, yet buy their students school supplies and other things while their own premed many times do not. Once again you are wrong. No I didn't live in the neighborhood and that has nothing to do with someone caring for children or teaching them appropriately. So again wrong. But when data proves the students advanced and in fact received grades on stage testing that was better than they had in previous years that shows success. My students showed that. Wow you are wrong again. See a trend ?? And you say dialogue to make the school better. Hmm who would that be with the old principal who was never there nor cared or the new monster who listens to no one and does whatever she wants anyways. Ignores bullying and violence which I've personally seen first hand against numerous teachers (some pregnant) and many many students. Some of those children committed violent assaults and nothing was done. Many teachers were witnesses to this and reported this but the student was back in their class 5 min later disrupting others from learning and again with violent behaviors assaulting other students. Wow you are wrong again. Amazing. How can one have dialogue with an individual that is a dictator? It was tried it failed and so will the kids until someone is responible enough to take some level of accountability for their own actions which said new principal never will. So dialogue is between two people. There is none of that there. There is just one person talking down to others. So all of your points are invalid and as useless as you are right now because investigations not only probed I was right they removed the other horror show before this new horror show came onto the scene. So you are wrong about everything you have said including showing your ineptitude (I know this is a hard word for you to understand) at reality. Now those brains you claim to have, if you sit down too hard you will crush all of them. I think you can infer where they are. Good day you rotten individual.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't have said it better than the comment above. You see they never gave her a chance because she wasn't the person that they wanted. Mr. or Mrs. Disgruntled, GET OVER IT LEGIONS IS HERE TO STAY!!!!

Anonymous said...

I really feel your pain! You seemed so hurt and frustrated that it is understandable. You used the word ineptitude, which you are projecting on to others, but in fact it only describes you. I truly don’t like to argue with people and the name calling is so unprofessional from someone in your position. I really hope you didn’t speak to your students like that. You are constantly being dishonest about the administration and that’s okay if it makes you feel better. I haven’t been wrong about one thing I said, but you on the other hand is wrong about everything you have written. You are taking your feelings about this principal personally and you want everyone to believe your fabrications. Each school has a protocol for disruptive behavior in their school. What are the new rules for disruptive behaviors, 1) Principals need authorization before suspending students for “defying authority.” 2) Safety officers can’t handcuff students under 12 without a supervisor’s approval without “exigent. 3) No more suspensions by superintendents for “minor physical altercations.” 4) Students can’t be handcuffed to each other or fixed objects and 5) Schools to get training to “reduce inappropriate reliance on 911 calls.” Please Stop!!! You knew the protocol in your school when a fight breaks out or for any type of aggressive behaviors that existed and you know that students cannot be suspended. It sounds like you lacked classroom management. I know that professional development is given for that. If you received it and you still could not contain behaviors in your class perhaps it was a good idea for you to move on. I know it’s not easy, but I also know that this principal would not sit around and let staff get hurt purposely. Dictator!! (NOT AT ALL). I will not continue to respond to you anymore because you keep repeating the same things, you want to make others look bad and the sad thing is that you are calling people names. I feel your pain! I think you should now move on and let go. Holding on to pain and trying to make others look bad because of your own personal feelings is not good. I hope that you will be able to move on from this point on.

Anonymous said...

I see that you went step by step to try and prove a pointless point about Mrs. Legions but they are ALL lies.A dictator REALLY!!! Why because you couldn't control her? And speaking of ineptitude, the 5th sentence where you wrote "As for brains I have one that" you spelled won like the number one. As a matter of fact you made many grammatical errors in your writings, or should I say rantings.As a teacher you should have known that. The only disgusting principal was Miss. Sills. That's why she was removed. Mrs. Legions is not the blame for a teacher receiving an ineffective. The teacher is. If a teacher doesn't do what is asked or can't handle the job then don't expect to receive an effective or highly effective rating. GET OVER IT. LEGIONS IS HERE TO STAY!!!!!

NY Teacher said...

It's time for you to just shut up. Seriously I wouldn't be surprise if you you were legions herself posting on here (as she is a dictator and micromanager) but I'm sure you are someone that te

Anonymous said...

Hi Ms. Legions! I know you're still reading this. So in case you don't have enough to read:

http://nypost.com/2017/01/29/principal-hid-disruptive-students-in-trailer-during-review-visits/

I hope you'll enjoy your last year.

Anonymous said...

MY OH MY, so you are back! I guess you got yourself in trouble again or someone there you know got themselves in trouble, because you'll were not used to working for your students. Let's say the ones who never worked! So you went to the paper again. Shame on you! You know when you do wrong to others, and at the same time you are doing wrong it will come back to bite you. Regardless to your little article the school is still prospering and you are still part of the problem. So since you are not happy, leave!!!!

Anonymous said...

Good evening Trouble Makers, I see you're at it again. Couldn't resist going to the papers I see. No matter what you try, the work Mrs. Legions has done shows throughout P.S.106Q.