NYC School Staff Accused of Stealing Trips Meant for Homeless Students
New York City Public Schools employees have been accused of taking their families on trips meant for homeless students. The trips, which were supposed to be “enrichment opportunities” for improving attendance or other academic achievements, included Disney World, Washington D.C., and the Rocking Horse Ranch Resort in New York.
According to a report released by the special commissioner of investigations for the district, Linda Wilson, the Queens regional manager for Students in Temporary Housing (STH), took her own family members on a Disney World trip sponsored by her job. She is also accused of allowing other employees to bring their family members on trips.
The report alleges that Wilson and other staff members would forge permission slips using the information of homeless students, then sign off on the paperwork as the parents of those students. The investigation revealed that many of the students who were listed on the trip paperwork did not actually go on the trips.
The special commissioner of investigations recommended that Wilson and the other accused employees be fired and have information about the accusations attached to their personnel files so they cannot work with the Department of Education again.
Who else is involved?
In addition to Wilson, the following were also named in the report:
- Shaquieta Boyd, Queens Students in Temporary Housing program manager
- Joanne Castro, Queens Students in Temporary Housing family assistant
- Mishawn Jack, Queens Students in Temporary Housing family assistant
- Virgen Ramos, Queens Students in Temporary Housing family assistant
- Maria Sylvester, Queens Students in Temporary Housing community coordinator
The report said that Ramos and Sylvester initially denied bringing family members on the trips. Boyd and Jack refused to speak with investigators, while Castro initially refused to speak to investigators and then resigned.
The Investigation
The investigation began in March 2019 when someone complained about Wilson, saying that she was supposed to plan multiple out-of-town field trips for students facing homelessness.
Wilson had payment requests for the trips processed and some of the stipulations stated that all trips must have some sort of educational component. Each student must also have a valid permission slip to attend and no staff family members could attend.
The trips were planned and paid for using grants meant to help students suffering from homelessness. The trips were also supposed to allow students to visit college campuses, but when investigators contacted the colleges listed in Wilson’s plans, the schools said they never spoke to her.
Staff Members Deny Accusations
Investigators spoke with several of the employees named in the report, who initially denied bringing family members on the trips. When shown photographs of herself on a 2016 Washington D.C. trip, Wilson identified herself and two of her daughters. She said her daughters did not go to Washington D.C., on the bus and instead, they had something else to do nearby in Maryland that day. Her daughters later met the group in Washington, D.C., Wilson said.
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