Saturday, June 23, 2018

PORT RICHMOND IA PRINCIPAL ARRESTED BUT STILL ON JOB

A teacher I knew once was arrested for smoking marijuana and was removed from the classroom and sent to the rubber room the next day. What about a principal arrested on a third-degree felony this week? She is back on the job after her arraignment.

An excerpt from an article in the Staten Island Advance:

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Interim Port Richmond High School Principal Oneatha Swinton was busted Thursday for car insurance fraud in Pennsylvania, authorities said.
Swinton, 39, of Woodstock Avenue in Tompkinsville, was charged with four counts of insurance fraud, a third-degree felony, theft by deception and criminal conspiracy, according to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Her alleged accomplice, Tanya John, 44, a former employee of the New York Department of Education, is charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy in connection with the scheme.
"These two defendants concocted a plan to fraudulently obtain lower insurance rates," Shapiro said in a press release.
In May 2014, authorities said Swinton fraudulently obtained her Pennsylvania driver's license by using John's local address.
John allowed Swinton to transfer the energy account for her residence into Swinton's name to secure proof of residency, authorities say.
After obtaining the license, the Staten Island resident then allegedly registered her two Lexus vehicles in Pennsylvania to secure cheaper rates. 
You would think this would be enough to have someone immediately assigned away from children but you would not be right.
Later in the story:
According to a source, Swinton was at Port Richmond High School Friday.
Attempts to reach her at the school and her home were unsuccessful.
"She will remain as interim acting principal at the school while we review the charges," said a spokesman for the Department of Education. "We treat these matters with the utmost seriousness and will ensure it's appropriately addressed." 
The Department of Education's "My principals right or wrong" policy continues unabated in NYC. However, I would be surprised if Swinton is appointed permanent principal at Port Richmond and of course she is innocent until proven guilty. 
I predict that after a plea deal she will end up reassigned to some cushy position in the school system.


This post has been updated with link to NY 1 story. Thanks to the reader who sent it.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

James, the SI Advance link you posted doesn’t work.

Here’s the correct link:

www.silive.com/news/2018/06/interim_port_richmond_hs_princ.html

Anonymous said...

Here’s the Spectrum News NY1 report:

http://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2018/06/23/interim-acting-principal-of-staten-island-school-arrested

Anonymous said...

She sounds like just the right person for the grade fixing job of principal

Anonymous said...

The bar keeps dropping on state math exams — and critics are saying it’s because officials are desperate for high graduation rates.

Kids only need to score a measly 30 percent on this month’s Algebra 1 Regents test to pass, according to new state guidelines.

Students who manage just 26 out of 86 total points will get a heavily weighted score of 65 — the minimum required for passage.

That’s the lowest standard since the state introduced the test four years ago.

Students must pass at least one math Regents exam in order to graduate with a conventional Regents diploma that is required by most colleges.

In 2014, it took 31 points — or 34.6 percent — to pass the test. That number dipped to 30 points in 2015 and 27 last year, according to state records.

A kid with a 65 weighted score is considered to be “partially meeting Common Core expectations” — but is still allowed to pass, according to the guidelines.

The Regents Algebra 1 test consists of 37 questions — 24 multiple choice and 13 open-ended problems that require students to show their work.

Each multiple choice question is worth two points and the open-ended problems are assigned varying point values.

A student can theoretically conquer the exam by nailing just 13 of the 24 multiple choice questions alone — without having to worry about the more involved material.

SEE ALSO
Student allegedly posted pictures of Regents exam on Facebook
Student allegedly posted pictures of Regents exam on Facebook
These gradually lowering standards have led to spiking pass rates in recent years.

“The Regents should be in the business of requiring adequate standards and not be complicit in increasing credit accumulation and high school graduation rates,” CUNY education professor David Bloomfield said. “They are an oversight body.”

Critics assert that loosening standards only harms students in the long run and leaves them — and their parents — with warped perceptions of their progress.

But a state education official said Friday that an experienced group of educators calibrated the requirements each year.

“A standard setting panel defines the knowledge and skills necessary for students who take a particular examination to achieve at each performance level,” said New York State Education Department spokesman Jonathan Burman. “The panel is made up of a diverse and representative group of New York State certified teachers.”

Anonymous said...

Honestly, that isn't much of a crime. I'd guess most people wouldn't even know they were committing an actual crime by doing what they did.

Anonymous said...

So glad to see this. She effed over so many teachers at Secondary School for Law (including me) and ruined careers. Glad to see her start getting some comeuppance. Hopefully, the DOE and new Chancellor will act. She needs to go before she ruins yet another school and additional teacher's careers.

Anonymous said...

mmm..wonder if that mercedes benz suv driven by that principal on the south bronx educational campus with the North Carolina plates is pulling the same fraudulent scam?

Anonymous said...

Front page of NY Post today, a 30 gets a 65 on regents. But schools have never done better, students worked so hard. I have a student who was present 5 times this term, did packets, passed every class.

Anonymous said...

Update about Oneatha Swinton:

https://nypost.com/2018/06/25/alleged-insurance-scammer-principal-finally-ousted-from-job