Friday, March 27, 2009

Derrick Townsend assistant principal at PS 154 in the Bronx has been reassigned

Report from an Ed Notes stringer at PS 154x
(Become a stringer for ed notes reporting on your school)

It has been learned that Derrick Townsend the assistant principal that assaulted a 9 year old last month and left bruises on her arm and leg has been reassigned to the Teacher Reassignment Center otherwise known as the "Rubber Room."

This action was taken immediately after a swarm of investigators descended upon PS 154 this week and were looking into Derrick Townsend for having allegedly dragged the girl up to 20 feet when she refused to stop crying and come with him.

The investigation is ongoing as is the investigation into Principal Linda Amill-Irizarry's alleged cover-up of the assault.

A criminal complaint against Derrick Townsend have been filed with the NYPD and the investigation is ongoing.

We have seen countless teachers sent to rubber rooms over trivialities. I heard from a friend today who was totally cleared after spending 6 months in the rubber room, sent there by an abusive principal on trumped up charges from a kid who said she made a racial slur. The principal left the system and gets off scot free (there are still teachers from the school in the rubber room after years).

Our reporter touches on an important point. The principal protected the AP and he was allowed to remain in the school despite the fact that people have been reporting the actions of the AP for many months. It was only after the story came out in the press that the incident was addressed by the DOE. Klein was sent letters about Townsend months ago. Leaving a supervisor accused of these acts in the building for months amounts to criminal behavior. I've often said Klein would one day be led out of Tweed with his coat over his head. Now's as good a time as any.

1 comment:

Jen said...

This disgusts and troubles me. What can I do (i am not a teacher or a parent, but will begin an EdM this fall) to hold Klein accountable for this dangerous neglect and to take a stand against the corrupt, vindictive, and negligent principals who plague our schools and sabotage education?