Updated 01/10/2012 11:33 PM
Teachers Demand DOE Fire Bronx High School Principal Over Lewd Comments
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Teachers rallied on Tuesday for a Bronx principal to be fired after investigators found he made inappropriate remarks to female staffers. NY1's Education reporter Lindsey Christ filed the following report. A report by the Department of Education Office of Equal Opportunity found that a Bronx high school principal shared vulgar comments with female staffers at least twice, yet teachers on Tuesday protested in the Bronxdale section of the Bronx that the department let such a man keep his job.
Investigators say Principal John Chase of Bronxdale High School told female staffers at least twice that a school copy machine could perform oral sex on him.
Principal John Chase
Chase received a letter of reprimand and has to undergo sensitivity training.
The rally against Chase was organized by the teachers' union and the National Organization for Women, and several elected officials attended or sent representatives. But most of the protestors were teachers at other Bronx high schools.
The union's Bronx representative, Jose Vargas, said two staff members from Bronxdale High School were there but they did not want to be identified.
"If my supervisor is on the line, I don't want to be the person standing out here, knowing tomorrow I have to go back into a building where he is still my supervisor," said Vargas.
School Chancellor Dennis Walcott defended the punishment earlier Tuesday.
"He made outrageous remarks and we're going to make sure he goes for the appropriate training, but at the same time we have an investment to make as far as leadership is concerned," said Walcott.
Advocates and staff members said the chancellor made a bad call.
"A slap on the wrist, that's all it is. Sensitivity training is just learning how not to get caught," said Cathy Deluca, a secretary at Christopher Columbus School in the Bronx.
"The fact that he is in charge of a school makes this particularly egregious. We've got to have a better standard," said Sonia Ossorio of the National Organization for Women.
Students reported the controversy has been a distraction and some of them said they want him out.
"It's disturbing. Like, it bothers all of us," said a student.
Chase has worked for the DOE since 2006 and makes more than $132,000 a year, but this is his first year as principal. A DOE spokesperson said the department would consider this issue if Chase applies for tenure as a principal.
Some of the teachers were protesting what they say is a pattern across the city, of principals getting off easy under Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Department of Education. They say they are not going to let this one go.