New York Post: Safety of Children in Class Rooms
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New York Post: Marc Held, Partner at Held & Hines, LLP quoted re: Safety of Children in Class Rooms
School fondle shock
5-year-olds touching & kissing: parents
Last Updated: 3:24 AM, February 5, 2012
A Washington Heights kindergarten class became a hotbed of reading, writing — and rubbing, shocking legal claims allege.
Parents of two kindergartners at PS 189 claim a group of 5-year-olds took their pants off and engaged in sex acts under their desks — while the teacher was in the classroom.
The hanky-panky continued for several months despite complaints to the teacher and the principal, they allege.
The mother of a girl at the Amsterdam Avenue elementary school — which is rated “A” by the Department of Education and serves mostly kids from poor families — said the school called her in for a meeting Jan. 3 to inform her of the disturbing behavior.
“They were trying to say that my daughter was inviting these children to do this to her.”
School officials downplayed the incidents, the mother said.
“Where were the adults?” she asked in horror.
“They explained the teacher had her back to the children, that it wasn’t that long,” she cried. “She must have had her back turned for a very long time for them to do the things that they did.”
A guidance counselor also assured her that “children are curious, children do this,” she said.
“They were telling me it’s normal. I said, ‘It’s not normal.’ ”
When she asked her daughter about it, she said, the girl told that her classmates “were all showing their private parts.”
The mom has transferred her daughter to a school in New Jersey.
Last week, she and the mother of a boy in the class filed notices of claim against the city — each seeking $5 million in damages. Such claims are required before a lawsuit is filed.
The claims say show-and-touch activity by four to seven kids occurred from last September to January. The girl’s classmates “pulled down their pants” and fondled and kissed her body parts “and instructed her to do likewise to them, which she did,” the claim states.
The boy’s mom heard about the activity from her son last October and reported it to the school, which documented the complaint in a report dated Dec. 21. The report refers vaguely to “contact” and “private parts” between two boys and a girl in the classroom. The teacher is listed as a witness.
The school did not notify the NYPD or the school superintendent, the report states. It informed parents of the other kids on Jan. 3.
“They didn’t notify the parents immediately or stop it from occurring for months,” said Marc Held, lawyer for both moms.
Principal Theresa Luger and the DOE declined to comment.
