Rumor: DeWitt Clinton HS Principal Santiago Taveras removed
Is this true?
Any confirmation? Sources?
Details?
When the Department of Education (still under Bloomberg) failed in its attempt to shut down Clinton four years ago, they didn’t give up. They planted two mini-schools in the building, eating up a floor and isolating the library. They discouraged middle schools from sending their students, causing enrollment to plummet. And they brought in Santiago Taveras, with a checkered pedagogical resumé, to demoralize the staff. Which he has done. Nice, smiley guy, who empowered arbitrary, impossible, unreasonable hatchetmen.
Last Spring he manipulated a personnel issue (Clinton has faced multiple years of down-sizing) to “get” the then-UFT Chapter Leader out of the building. We, the whole union, should have gone to war over that. Mentioned indirectly here.
So today, if he really was removed, we should want to know more. What for? Why? And what changes does this signal for the school, and for high schools in general?
Until we know more, it is not possible to know if this change (if it happened) will help bring DeWitt Clinton back, or push it deeper into the hole. Stay tuned.
JD2718 
Not a rumor…Lisa Luft to take over….
If that is accurate, it is not good new for DWCHS. Taveras’ tenure was demoralizing. Clinton staff, students, and community may be in for much worse.
LIsa Luft has been the principal in a series of schools before they closed, including Taft and JFK. Before that she was APO at Evander, as they were preparing to destroy that school and replace it with mini-schools.
She has a reputation as an active, not a passive principal. I have heard reports that she tends not to be empathetic with the staff in any way. And I have heard that her policies have often not made sense.
Combine those: active, uncaring, and not fully rational, and the recipe is for a quick destruction of morale. I’m not sure how to resist this.
I heard this on channel 2 news around six tonight.
Remember, although you are quick to paint the entire staff as “demoralized” by Santi, this is simply not true. First of all the problems at DWC certainly predate Santi and are complex and systemic. I will not point fingers in public, leaving that up to you, but our problems go far beyond one person at DWC. As always it is easy to make statements from afar based upon anecdotal information. Actually our recruitment efforts over the last two years have been quite productive. I know, because I teach these kids everyday (10 graders). Certainly we deserve, need to have a new principal whose goal is to support our still excellent staff, not someone biding their time to collect a pension. The members who work hard every day and never get into any trouble, they are the forgotten ones!
This is true.
ding dong the wicked witch is dead forever and the doe would be crazy to keep him hired. this ding dong belongs with the charter school people and they can all eat crap and read the daily news
Luft herself only lasted until February, when she allegedly made an insensitive and frankly racist remark to students in the hallway. SOMEBODY complained, and she was quietly removed. Clinton is now on their third principal this school year.
That Luft left is a fact, but why she left… The DoE under Klein, under Black (who Mulgrew did not oppose), under Walcott, and sadly under Fariña leaves in administrators who have done far worse. Perhaps one day we will learn who she offended.