{"id":22210,"date":"2024-07-03T01:48:26","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T05:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multi.nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/?p=22210"},"modified":"2025-02-13T09:40:28","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T14:40:28","slug":"i-s-347-teachers-accuse-principal-of-fostering-toxic-workplace-in-bushwick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/i-s-347-teachers-accuse-principal-of-fostering-toxic-workplace-in-bushwick\/","title":{"rendered":"I.S. 347 Teachers Accuse Principal of Fostering Toxic Workplace in Bushwick"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Megan McGibney<\/a><\/p>\n

Intimidation. Toxic leadership. Disrespect. Retaliation.<\/p>\n

These sharp words were used to describe Principal Neyva Rivera at\u00a0Bushwick’s I.S. 347 School of Humanities<\/a>, as teachers, staff, parents, students and even elected officials called\u00a0for the removal of the principal\u00a0during a Friday\u00a0press conference in front of the school.<\/p>\n

Erika Meza, a teacher, said her mother, who works\u00a0in the school as a staff member, suffered an aneurysm at school\u00a0after getting extremely mad and stressed out with the principal’s behavior.<\/p>\n

“It was a shocking lack of empathy,” said Meza. “My mother’s life hung in the balance and not once did she check her breathing.”<\/p>\n

Sandra Diaz, a United Federation of Teachers\u00a0chapter leader and a teacher at the school, said Rivera\u00a0would publicly humiliate teachers and scream at them.<\/p>\n

Gabrielina Henriquez, the outgoing Parent Teacher Association president, said the principal would give out extra tests that the teachers were unaware of, and in one instance, promoted a student to the next grade when the student wasn’t ready and\u00a0without the parents’ consent. Henriquez claimed that student suffered mental health issues as a result of being promoted.<\/p>\n

As the school drew to a close, 58% of the school’s teachers signed a no-confidence letter, according to Veronica Welinsky-Sorkin, the UFT District Representative.<\/p>\n

The principal had just completed her first year as principal, but the school community was dismayed enough by Rivera’s behavior that they contacted elected officials for help.<\/p>\n

Two of those electeds, State Senator Julia Salazar and Assemblymember Maritza Davila,\u00a0both attended\u00a0the press conference.<\/p>\n

“For about a month and a half, I have been trying to help\u00a0resolve an issue alongside the teachers and parents that are here,” Davila said. “It has come to my attention that several teachers and staff are being targeted, abused\u00a0and retaliated upon after putting in complaints in writing.”<\/p>\n

Davila added she contacted Superintendent Rebecca Lozada about the “atrocities”\u00a0only for the superintendent to say she would not\u00a0take Rivera out of the school.<\/p>\n

“If your principal does not respect you or feels that she has an iron fist, it’s not going to work,”\u00a0Davila said.\u00a0“Teachers that have claimed\u00a0that they are going to the hospital, she has personally shown up to the hospital to make sure that the teacher was in an emergency.”<\/p>\n

Salazar explained that I.S. 347’s faculty and staff had spent several months doing what they could to rectify the\u00a0problems.<\/p>\n

“We’re talking about abusive behavior,” Salazar said. “We know that those who had the courage to speak up, who have in some ways risked their jobs…they have faced retaliation. We cannot tolerate that.”<\/p>\n

On the last day of school, Rivera suddenly fired five\u00a0faculty and staff, according to\u00a0Diaz. This includes Dean Darryl Wilson, who\u00a0accused Rivera of cutting him out of his duties and giving them to Tommy Melo, a program director of Good Shepherd Services,\u00a0<\/strong>a nonprofit that runs afterschool programs\u00a0at the school.<\/p>\n

Wilson said Melo went to more meetings with Rivera than he did.<\/p>\n

According to Henriquez, Melo also began to take over some of her jobs, including organizing a fundraising event.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Good Shepherd Services said the program director was involved in one fundraiser and the nonprofit only provides services for the school community.<\/p>\n

“Good Shepherd Services proudly partners with I.S. 347, working with all school stakeholders to support students, families and the Bushwick community. In line with the Community School Model, we collaborate with school administrators to develop, implement, and assess initiatives to create a safe, inclusive environment. During this time, we are committed to ensure students and families have the necessary supports they need to succeed,” the spokesperson said through a statement.<\/p>\n

The Department of Education, Superintendent Lozada\u00a0and Principal Rivera did not respond to BK Reader’s requests for comment.<\/p>\n

At the end of the press conference, Davila called for the Mayor’s Office and Department of Education Chancellor David Banks to get involved with I.S. 347’s leadership problems.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
In a statement, City Councilmember Jennifer Gutierrez, who did not attend the press conference, said the complaints about Principal Rivera’s behavior were “disappointing.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“We want to support the staff with mediation. No one wants to hear all of that when it would hinder student success in the fall,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Megan McGibney Intimidation. Toxic leadership. Disrespect. Retaliation. These sharp words were used to describe Principal Neyva Rivera at\u00a0Bushwick’s I.S. 347 School of Humanities, as teachers, staff, parents, students and even elected officials called\u00a0for the removal of the principal\u00a0during a Friday\u00a0press conference in front of the school. Erika Meza, a teacher, said her mother, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5904,"featured_media":22211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,3461,2870,2717],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bushwick-neighborhoods-2","category-development","category-education","category-bk-news"],"yoast_head":"\nI.S. 347 Teachers Accuse Principal of Fostering Toxic Workplace in Bushwick - Brooklyn News and Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/i-s-347-teachers-accuse-principal-of-fostering-toxic-workplace-in-bushwick\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I.S. 347 Teachers Accuse Principal of Fostering Toxic Workplace in Bushwick\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By: Megan McGibney Intimidation. Toxic leadership. Disrespect. Retaliation. These sharp words were used to describe Principal Neyva Rivera at\u00a0Bushwick’s I.S. 347 School of Humanities, as teachers, staff, parents, students and even elected officials called\u00a0for the removal of the principal\u00a0during a Friday\u00a0press conference in front of the school. 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