NYC School Employees Accused Of Sending Their Kids On Trips Reseved For Homeless Children

According to Department of Education spokesperson Jenna Lyle, none of the people listed in the report are currently employed by New York City Public Schools.

Investigators are accusing six employees of New York City Public Schools of taking their children or grandchildren on trips to Disney World, New Orleans, or other locations that were meant for homeless children to experience.

According to the Associated Press, the trips were designed to enrich the lives of homeless children and students living in shelters or other temporary housing. According to Anastasia Coleman, the special commissioner of Investigation for New York City schools, the trips included excursions to Washington D.C., Boston, and Broadway shows.

According to a report released in September, Linda Wilson, the Queens regional manager for the office that houses the program supporting students in temporary housing, took her own kids instead of the children the program had been designed to benefit. According to a staffer, Wilson commented on one occasion, “What happens here stays with us.”

The investigation began in 2019 after a whistleblower brought a complaint in March of that year. The special commissioner’s report, completed in January 2023 but recently released on Sept. 9, spawned from that complaint involving trips taken between 2016 and 2019.

According to that report, Wilson forged permission slips to get family members on the trips and escaped scrutiny from the Department of Education by using an outside travel agent. In addition, some of the trips were intended to be college tours, but according to witnesses, none of the students or chaperones ever visited any campuses.

According to the AP, the special commissioner’s report recommended that all of the employees listed in the report be fired, and according to Department of Education spokesperson Jenna Lyle, none of the people listed in the report are currently employed by New York City Public Schools. Wilson, however, maintains that she retired and was not officially terminated and has referred to the probe conducted by Coleman’s office as “a witch hunt,” in addition to denying that she took her daughters on the trips or encouraged other staff members to bring their children.

According to the January 2023 letter Coleman sent to NYC Public Schools Chancellor David C. Banks: “It is the recommendation of this office that the employment of Linda Wilson, Shaquieta Boyd, Mishawn Jack, Virgen Ramos, and Maria Sylvester be terminated, and that problem codes be attached to each of their personnel files to serve as permanent bars to future employment with the DOE, within any of its facilities, or with any of its vendors.”

The letter continued, “Although Joanne Castro has retired from the DOE, it is the recommendation of this office that a problem code be attached to her personnel file to serve as a permanent bar to future employment with the DOE, within any of its facilities, or with any of its vendors. Further, the DOE should seek reimbursement for all expenses incurred by the DOE on the part of those who wrongly benefitted from these actions.”