They say “When life throws you lemons, just make lemonade.” Going along with that saying I have had plenty of lemons thrown at me. Come get your lemonade.
Making lemonade with the lemons thrown.
I was told that on March 11, 2013 Principal Linda Hill made her 30th allegation againstme. Principal Hill contacted SCI on March 11 about a blog post I made on January 8, 2013. Yes over three months later. The blog post was aboutdeficienciesI found in the safety plan of a school and Principal Hill decided to turn into an allegation against me.
New Investigation on Me Takes the Cake -Im telling students how to sneak weapons into school
So anyway, I got to thinking and this is what I came up with:
Ready
If Principal Hill thought that I blogged and told students how to sneak weapons into school, and it was a reportable offense, then why did she wait three months to report it
So I decided to contact the Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) and report Principal Hill for not reporting me sooner since she was aware for three months.
As usual SCI actually referred it to OSI and in September 2013 OSI called me in.
The investigator on this case was former Starrett City Peace Officer Wei Liu. I went in and sat with two Staten Island UFT reps, Mr. Liu and his supervisor Deputy Director Christopher Dalton. We actually joked that I had my “usual seat” in the conference room.
So now I am told to speak about what I submitted to SCI. I simply said that if Principal Hill is mandated to report potential security issues, then she is in violation for waiting three months.
Mr. Dalton asked what I thought was a very valid question. “Well how do you know Principal Hill knew for three months”
Ah ha!! That’s when I pulled out an email that a former SLT parent sent me, Principal Hill and others about that same topic and the blog post. I learned and I was ready.
To which Mr. Dalton posed another question (which is probably why he is Deputy Director). “Well, how do you know Principal Hill read that email”
Uhhh.. Hmmm… Yeah I guess he was right. I was stumped for a moment. I have emails I haven’t opened or read.
I said I would look for proof and get back to them.
…and I did. It turns out that not only was this communicated in an email among the SLT members, but also in an SLT meeting as well. I did a keyword search and found that in the presence of Principal Hill, this topic came up on February 5, 2013.
I took that file and sent it over to NYC DOE’s Office of Special Investigations (OSI) and copied a few others.
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From:Francesco Portelos<fportelos@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 2:04 PM
Subject: Proof of Principal’s Knowledge for OSI Investigation 13-05696X and 13-02128X
To: Investigator Wei Liu WLiu8@schools.nyc.gov
Cc: Dalton Christopher <cdalton@schools.nyc.gov>, McLaren Candace <cmclaren@schools.nyc.gov>, Courtenaye Jackson-Chase <cjackson-chase@schools.nyc.gov>, “DMWalcott@schools.nyc.gov” <dmwalcott@schools.nyc.gov>, “intake@nycsci.org” <intake@nycsci.org>
- I posted this on my blog on January 8, 2013http://educatorfightsback.org/guns-knives-and-very-sharp-2-pencils/
- At a February 5, 2013 SLT meeting the topic of that blog post and security issue came up.
- In March 2013, Principal Hill contacts SCI about my January 8, 2013 post.
- April 8, 2013 I’m told I’m the subject of this investigation and get called in to OSI who now has the case.
- On May 1, 2013 I meet with OSI Investigator Lawrence Scott and he informs me about Principal Hill’s allegation. I answer questions about this case (13-02128x)
- At one point I think about the events that transpired and believe that Principal Hill reported an allegation of possible misconduct way after she had knowledge of it. I then submit the complaint to SCI who refers it to OSI case13-05696X.
- I am questioned as a witness today, September 26, 2013, by Investigator Wei Liu. I was asked to provide any proof that Principal Hill had knowledge of this blog postlongbefore the SCI intake in March of 2013.
- Attached is proof that she had knowledge as far back as February 5, 2013 and failed to report. See SLT Minutes.
—
-Francesco Portelos
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and now we wait…and wait …and wait. Rumor has it OSI Investigator Dennis Boyles has the case now. That would be a problem for several reasons I will report on soon. I had already requested that Mr. Boyles not be involved in investigations in our school due to potential conflict. It was ignored.
I called OSI and was informed that the case against me and my blog post was unsubstantiated. However, I still have not received anything in writing nor a status on the case againstPrincipal Hill for not reporting.
[UPDATE] The case I lodged against Principal Linda Hill was unsubstantiated by OSI Investigator Wei Liu and OSI Deputy Director Christopher Dalton stating “there was no undue delay in Principal Hill reporting the safety concern.” I guess three months is not that long when you do not report an alleged safety concern.
Other Open Cases I have reported and are still open:
SCI/OSI Case 12-533 on double dipping
OEO Case on Discriminatory Hiring. Waiting on OEO Investigator Theresa Wade to wrap that one up.
and several others.
Lemonade!!! Get your fresh lemonade! Touche’!
Wow, if John Gotti had this much protection from his corruption as Principal Hill, he wouldn’t have been sentenced.
She’s Leadership Academy. She’s on the mayor’s task force for something
You are brilliant, did I mention Oh yeah, I have always said that…YOU MAKE US PROUD!!!
Thank you Regina. I’m sorry I wasn’t knowledgeable enough back then to help you stay in our school