Some progress at PS 207

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It is encouraging to see the Department of Education finally take action at P.S. 207 after parents have made allegations of severe bullying, administrative stonewalling and one case of sexual harassment among children. Out of the measures the DOE has initiated, increasing lunchtime staff by four members seems like the most promising one.

It is also welcome to hear reports of extra playground equipment at the Godwin Terrace school. Parents have indicated that the worst bullying has taken place during recess. Extra options for play might do nothing to change the status quo; but no student would turn away some extra playtime options.

The DOE’s proposal for regular safety meetings seems to touch on the heart of the problems at the school. Principal Maria Rosada should be expected to attend the sessions. But if she has allowed bullying to get so out of hand under her watch, why should parents expect her to show leadership simply because the DOE is ordering regular meetings?

We still need a full account of how the situation at P.S. 207 spiraled out of control. One parent recently raised an all-too-plausible explanation: a double standard against lower-income families. More than 80 percent of P.S. 207 students qualify for free lunch.

While the local superintendent has spent hours meeting with parents at the Spuyten Duyvil School (P.S. 24), which has plenty of troubles of its own, she appears to have ignored P.S. 207. For years, the former school has had a highly active parents’ association — which has the ear of local elected officials — but now that P.S. 207 parents’ cries have gotten out, Superintendent Melodie Mashel should be exerting the utmost effort to work with them.

Sadly, The Press has learned that Ms. Mashel long ignored P.S. 207 parents’ requests for a meeting. The superintendent is expected finally to meet with parents on Monday, May 23 — nearly six months after the first reports of bullying at the elementary school came out. Ms. Mashel and other DOE officials should hold the meeting sooner and show that safety is an equal priority for all students.

The double standard against P.S. 207 appears to hold among some local elected officials, too. Northwest Bronx Councilman Andrew Cohen has at least taken the step of attending parents’ association meetings. But while Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz has made overcrowding and staffing at P.S. 24 a top priority — even taking the questionable step of sending his chief of staff to help with registering prospective kindergartners — he has not said a word about P.S. 207. Since Bronx state Sen. Jeff Klein’s contorted district narrowly excludes the school, it falls to state Sen. Gustavo Rivera to intervene there.

Local elected officials need to step up and make sure all children in their district are safe — and the adults who are responsible for them are held accountable, too.

PS 207, PS 24

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