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February 15, 2012

Report: Queens teacher had fifth-graders send cards to a felon

by Philissa Cramer, at 2:20 pm

A city teacher is in trouble after she required her students to craft holiday cards for a prisoner in an upstate jail.

Melissa Dean had her fifth-grade class at P.S. 143 in Queens decorate cards for people who were lonely during the holiday season, then mailed the cards to a friend imprisoned after convictions on weapons charges, according to a report out today from the office of Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon.

Hoping to get a response, some of the students shared their names and addresses with the prisoner, according to the report, which comes as the city is reeling from the arrests of aides at two different schools on sex abuse charges.

Condon is recommending that Dean, who started at P.S. 143 in 2004 and was reassigned to an office during the investigation, be fired and prohibited from ever working in the city schools again. Department of Education officials said they would indeed seek Dean’s termination.

As with many reports from SCI, some of the details about the investigation are more interesting than the allegations themselves. Today’s report shows that Principal Sheila Gorski quickly informed the city after an upstate corrections officer alerted her to the package of letters, even though she could conceivably have hidden them and avoided an investigation. It also shows that the investigation proceeded swiftly, which is not always the case: Investigators learned about the letters when they returned to the office after Christmas. In the intervening month and a half, investigators talked to virtually every student in the class, even as they heard the same story over and over again.

The full report is below.


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  • http://profiles.google.com/sinksfelines Kitchen Sink

    Admittedly I haven’t read the report all the way through, and this seems like a colossal error in judgment, but I can’t help but think Condon’s proposed punishment far exceeds the “crime.”  Prohibiting her from working for the city for the rest of her life?  Too much.  Firing her?  Probably also too much.  This sounds like the principal acted correctly, there should be a meeting with parents talking through the issue, and a written warning/letter to the file for the employee to protect children’s privacy.  Other than the names and addresses, I don’t see what’s wrong with kids writing to inmates.

  • Tim

    Other than the fact that we gave your minor child’s name and your home address to a convicted felon, how’d you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

    In all seriousness, no, there’s nothing wrong with writing to inmates, but that’s after the teacher clears it with her boss and sends home a well-thought-out description of the project and how it relates to whatever the class is studying, along with a permission slip (that stresses there is no consequence to opting out). And after that’s done, yeah, you don’t put names and addresses on the cards–and the investigator’s report says that this teacher actually told the students to do that so they could get letters in return! 

    The addresses, the failure to clear anything with admins or parents, her willingness to put her incarcerated friend’s interests over that of her kids, the comment from a student that “this teacher was the best, she always puts on videos and doesn’t give us homework”. . . I’m leaning more heavily toward “shouldn’t be alone with kids” rather than “aw, heck, it could happen to anyone, give her a do-over.”

  • Flerplunk

    It also doesn’t help that this guy’s offense was threatening someone via text messages after an order of protection had already been placed on him.  And that the city’s under a microscope because of the recent sex abuse cases. 

    Anyway, let the due process roll.  The principal learned of this on December 23, so it’ll be two months next week.  Anybody know what the next step is?  Straight to the filing of 3020-a charges? 

  • Ken Hirsh

    My eyes darted back and forth between KS’s comments and the phrase “then mailed the cards to a friend imprisoned after convictions on weapons charges”.  I assumed I must have misread that phrase.  It goes to show how people can have very different standards for offenses that should lead to termination.  

  • Youdontneedtoknow

    But the principal who talked about his sexual fascination with a copy machine gets to keep his job…fascinating.

  • Tim

    One case has nothing to do with the other, of course. But just to clarify: you are arguing that in a perfectly just world, both Chase and this teacher should be terminated, correct? If so, I agree with you.  

  • Tim

    NY1 reports that the inmate was the teacher’s boyfriend, and that he was once charged with possessing child pornography.

    Still want to give her a mulligan, Kitchen Sink? And is it only actual criminal charges that allow the DOE to bypass the 3020-a process?  

  • Flerplunk

    I’ve long been a fan of Terry Colon.  These images seem appropriate.

  • Flerplunk

    Also — how the heck did this not show up in Condon’s report?  It took a reporter a few hours to find this.  

  • Bwillfull

    This Guys offense was a little
    More then a text message. It was his second violation. He also had a illegal loaded gun and 50 plus photos of child porn

  • Flerplunk

    What in God’s name is going on?

    Queens Teacher Charged With Sexually Abusing Boys

    By ANDY NEWMAN
    Updated, 5:41 p.m.

    A computer teacher at a Queens elementary school with a history of sexually abusing children was arrested on Thursday on charges of sexually abusing two boys at the school, the authorities said.

    Wilbert Cortez, 49, touched the genitals and the buttocks of an 8-year-old and a 9-year-old over their clothes in his classroom at Public School 174 in Rego Park on at least two occasions during the 2010-11 school year, said a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown.

    In 2000, Mr. Cortez was found to have touched the buttocks of two male students at another school in Queens by the school system’s special commissioner of investigation. While a letter was placed in his file detailing the conduct, he never faced criminal charges, the authorities said.

  • Tim

    Hey, the system works! When he first molested kids back in 1999, he was sternly told that there’d be consequences if it happened again. 

    Appalling.

  • Flerplunk

    Good point.  Of course, God knows how many other times this happened — how many other students sat down and “worked it out” with him — in the intervening 12 years.  

    I don’t want to sound hysterical, but given the recent other cases in NYC and in LA, why should I not be wondering how deep this goes? 

  • Tim
  • Flerplunk

    Floodgates opening. 

  • Tiredofyou

    There are no lawyers perverts
    There are no lawyer criminals
    Teachers have cornered the market but not lawyers.
    These are terrible people who if they are found guilty should be punished.
    Just jump on the old bandwagon.

  • Flerplunk

    Ok, Cardinal Egan. 

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