Thanks for contacting us. We’ve received your submission.
A veteran principal abruptly booted from her Williamsburg school says she was targeted for her open support for Israel.
Esther Shali-Ogli, who has led Juan Morel Campos Secondary School for seven years, was abruptly removed last month after Superintendent David Cintron claimed she failed to inform him of an aide’s arrest — an accusation she calls “a lie.”
“They hate me,” said Shali-Ogli, one of two Jewish principals in school District 14, where a rogue, parent-run Community Education Council promoted a citywide student walkout to support Palestine in November at the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and is accused of muzzling dissident voices.
“I feel I’m being targeted because I’m a Jewish woman in a district which is all about supporting Palestine,” she said.
Shali-Ogli, 58, unabashedly cheers the Jewish State — hanging an Israeli flag on her office door and plastering her car with bumper stickers with slogans like “Bless Israel” and “Damn Hamas” in Hebrew.
“I’m not included in anything,” she said. “I can’t go to the CEC or district leadership meetings where they’re espousing annihilation of the Jewish state, and the superintendent has not addressed the hateful speech. As a Department of Education employee I’m supposed to remain neutral and sit there quietly.”
The principal’s Kafkaesque nightmare began on March 1, when deputy superintendent Arelis Parache told her to pack her belongings, surrender her keys and leave the building, Shali-Ogli said.
Parache handed Shali-Ogli a letter saying she was under investigation, but did not give a reason.
Her representative at the principals’ union learned she is under scrutiny over an incident involving a 14-year-old student who told Shali-Ogli on Feb. 7 that a school aide had shared a “sex video” on his cell phone.
The principal immediately notified the city’s Special Commissioner of Investigation in an email titled “New complaint of a sexual nature,” and marked as “high importance.” DOE rules instruct schools to report sexual misconduct to the SCI, which usually contacts police.
But it wasn’t until Feb. 20, with schools closed for the mid-winter recess, that SCI investigator Michael Bisogna wrote back, asking “Was this reported to the NYPD?”
Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.
But it wasn’t until Feb. 20, with schools closed for the mid-winter recess, that SCI investigator Michael Bisogna wrote back, asking “Was this reported to the NYPD?”
Please provide a valid email address.
By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use
and Privacy Policy.
Never miss a story.
After the break, the school called the cops, who arrested paraprofessional Douglas James, 40.
Shali-Ogli then called Cintron — who was in Arizona at a conference — to tell him about the arrest, but he refused to take her calls, she said.
Cintron later complained she never told him.
“That’s a lie,” Shali-Ogli said. “I informed his deputy, his secretary and his executive director.”