March 24, 2007
WHITHER THE PRINCIPAL?
In my piece a few days about the release of wrongly accused school janitor Frances Evelyn, who was arrested for the repeated rape of an 8-year-old girl and then released when the charges appeared unfrounded [see WHOOPS! WE SAID WHAT? 3/21/07], I concluded by inquiring about P.S. 91's principal:
And here's something else I'm curious about: what happened to P.S. 91's principal and what happens now?
Somewhat lost in the drama of the police's catch-and-release exercise with Evelyn, the principal of P.S. 91, Solomon Long, was relieved of his position by the school board. I missed the followup the next day, but the Times was on it:
On Tuesday, education officials removed the principal of the school, Public School 91 in East Flatbush, saying he had failed to report an earlier allegation of abuse by the child that she said had taken place outside school and did not involve a school employee.
And yesterday, city officials said the girl had previously complained of being sexually abused by her father and also by a classmate her own age.
Following the death of Nixmary Brown last year, the Bloomberg administration instituted much stricter regulations with regards to reporting incidents of child abuse. These are what Principal Solomon Long ran afoul of and precipitated his removal. While it may seem like regulations regarding reporting child abuse could never be stringent enough (report everything!), blanket prescriptions remove a valuable layer of discretion wielded by the people closest to the situation and likely with the most firsthand information.
Judging from the Times account, it seems that Principal Long was employing a little discretion in formalizing complaints made by a girl who was not unfamiliar with accusing adults and contemporaries of abuse. While privacy laws shield the results of an investigation by the Children's Welfare Agency, the Times wrote that police sources believed allegations against the girl's father were found to be baseless.
So Principal Long has been relieved of his position for exercising discretion in formalizing complaints that he suspected were confabulations by a child. It appears that his experience and judgement in this matter were correct. Critics will say that draconian rules are there to purposefully override the discretion of individuals and that children must be protected at any cost, no matter what the consequences. That may be, but it's certainly cold comfort to Frances Evelyn, whose face and name were dragged through the mud by the NY media alleging he was a child rapist. And it may be cold comfort to Solomon Long, whose well-founded prudence and judgement in a matter of child welfare were proven correct, a fact he can comfort himself with as he looks for a new position.
Tagged: abuse, evelyn, principalPosted by Lexiphane at March 24, 2007 6:33 PM
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