GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

A Chinatown school that has been mired in allegations has been cleared of at least one of them, but it’s still under scrutiny.

A report released today by the Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon says investigators did not find proof of large-scale theft, which some at the school had alleged. But investigators did unearth some unorthodox financial practices that Condon has reported to the Department of Education, with the advice that the city offer accounting training to parents and administrators at the school.

The DOE’s Office of Special Investigations is still looking into different allegations against Shuang Wen, according to the report.

UPDATE: DOE officials said the SCI report identified five different ways in which school administrators violated department rules and regulations about fund-raising and financial management.

“We are deeply troubled by Commissioner Condon’s findings, which show that standard operating procedures, Chancellor’s regulations, and City Conflicts of Interest Law were repeatedly violated — specifically with regard to financial management of the school,” said DOE spokesman Matthew Mittenthal in a statement. (more…)

Nicole Suriel and her classmates did not have permission slips for the field trip that ended in the 12-year-old student’s death, according to a report released today by the school system’s investigator.

UPDATE: Responding to the report’s findings, the city is firing Erin Bailey, the first-year teacher who led the field trip. It will also seek to put the school’s principal, Jose Maldonado-Rivera, on a two-year probation. The school’s assistant principal, Andrew Stillman, is being demoted to a tenured teacher position.

Suriel’s drowning is also prompting the city to review and possibly change its regulations on field trips, said Department of Education spokeswoman Natalie Ravitz.

Investigators compiled a detailed narrative of the June 22 field trip to an unpatrolled Long Island beach taken by Suriel’s sixth grade class at the Columbia Secondary School for Math, Science and Engineering. They interviewed the school’s principal, as well as the assistant principal, local government and law enforcement officials, eight students on the trip and a college intern who chaperoned. The full report is below. (more…)