An online petition circulated by local parents that calls for PS 132 (320 Manhattan Ave.) to “dismantle institutionalized racism” has gained over 3,000 signatures.
The petition urges the Williamsburg school, which teaches Pre-K through 5th grade students, to implement an anti-racist curriculum and to fill vacant teaching position with “Black and Brown applicants until the share of Black and Brown teachers aligns with the proportion of students in the school.”
Demands also include for PS 132 to desegregate all classrooms representative of the student body, “by aligning the percentage of Black and Brown students in each class in the school with the proportion of Black and Brown students in the school.”
Administrators at PS 132 allegedly pressured the non-profit organization PS 132 Parent Teachers Association to remain neutral with social media posts over the Black Lives Matter movement which gained momentum following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, according to the petition:
On June 3, 2020, the eve of George Floyd’s memorial, the PS 132 Parent Teachers Association posted a black square on its Facebook page listing the names of black men and women murdered at the hands of police, in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. That afternoon, the administration of PS 132 phoned the PTA and decreed that the BLM posting was “too political” and instructed the PTA to remain “neutral” on the matter. The school administration then instructed the PTA to post a corrective, “more general” message — one that expressed respect for all lives.
We have had enough. We will not be silenced or “neutralized.” We are parents, guardians, alumni and community members of currently-enrolled students at PS 132, The Conselyea School in Brooklyn, NYC. We demand a more just and equitable learning experience for all our students, in particular our Black and Brown students. We are fighting to end inequality at our school and to create an environment of anti-racism. We need racial justice and equity for all in our school, and we need it now.
The most-recent Facebook post from PS 132 PTA in support of BLM was on June 20th promoting a children’s march in Manhattan.
The “All Lives Matter” response to Black Lives Matter is controversial for those aligned with the social and racial justice movement, and the ALM slogan continues to be painted throughout Greenpoint, seemingly in response to the proliferation of BLM murals in the area.
Last week, a man painted All Lives Matter in large letters on Meserole Avenue while getting into an argument with a nearby resident in the process. The Greenpoint resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, personally paid for the immediate removal of the slogan.
On Friday, an ALM tag was discovered on the women’s bathroom building at McGolrick Park and was also quickly painted over.
A children’s march in support of Black Lives Matter is scheduled at McGolrick Park on Friday at 7 p.m., and will meet at Monitor Street and Driggs Avenue.
Mayor de Blasio announced on Thursday that NYC schools will welcome back students for in-person classes in September.
I wanted to offer a slight alternate view of what has been written about the petition. Of course, all are encouraged to ask questions, find facts, and discuss openly. I would encourage you to do some fact finding on your own.
These are really crazy times….and at times just the normal day seems like a lot to manage. I wish I could say all was great……but, it really is not. I have tried to keep quiet mostly because of my involvement in the PS 132 PTA which completed this week. We really saw some awful things happen coming out of the FB group responsible for this petition in the community and I needed to make you aware of what is going on to provide another view from my role on the PTA and as a parent. Please understand, I can’t go into detail because of confidentiality reasons, legal, and individuals’ safety concerns.
I have been working w Ms Lubeck, Alora Bailey from FACE, Dr Best (Dep Superintendent), & Superintendent Winnicki because we (all) have been following this matter very closely since June because there really is a bigger picture and a series of consistent harassment and bullying over cyber that has really ramped up. The common thread for each of the episodes (over the past couple of weeks) seems to be that individuals are presented with a chance to be anti-racist and support the BLM cause only if they agree with the proposed petition which calls for the removal of individuals from staff at the school without cause and a other demands.
One of the incidents this week, involved a member of the community that I am sure most of you know and are patrons of their store was targeted over social media by 2 members of this FB Group and told to “decolonize themselves” and other things…and threatened..“I’ll make sure to let everyone I know personally and in social media know that the owners of (business X) do not support BLM or anti racism at PS 132”. This was said to our community member because they questioned whether or not it was legal to hire only black and brown teachers & noted that some of the demands don’t make sense. The victims of this attack are close and dear friends of mine and I can attest that they are very good people and do not deserve to be singled out in this manner. Nor does anyone. As a small business owner in the community and NYer…..I am not ok with this behavior and I do not support these actions. My friends were teamed up on by members of this group and effectively laughed at or the equivalent on social media and harassed…..no two ways about it.
Re: PS 132 Parents for Change, which are also the sponsors of the petition is group is a private FB group, I am having a hard time align to the demographic makeup of our community and they appear to only be open for dialogue to a few people internally and not on an open basis. I have reached to 2 other the administrators regarding the instance of a private group a week ago and my concerns and how this seems to be at odds with open dialogue and have not heard any response. Also, it has been brought to my attention over the past week that many of the individuals on the petition are not part of the local 132 community or North Brooklyn community. On a personal level, I do not know or understand how someone can call for the removal a person from their job without cause and not provide any evidence under any circumstance…also, more fundamentally what does this have to do with a message of BLM & anti-racism. I happen to know why this person is being targeted for removal and it has nothing to do with BLM or anti-racism that I am aware of…..it has to do with a larger agenda item that is being championed by someone the group that has nothing to do with BLM or anti racism….yet, this person is being singled out under the guise of being racist and anti BLM.
I have been speaking with other parents this week as well that have been asked to have them removed from tags because of harassment and they do not agree with the petition which is one of the reasons why we agreed as a board to stop comments to a post last week. This was done to disable members of the FB group from leveraged our platform for harassment immediately. We meet as a board (all of us) and voted to stop comments….the majority of the board agreed this should not continue. The two descending members are members of the group and authors of the petition. Our private communications were taken and shared over social media and misrepresented to drive a different narrative…which resulted in members of this FB group sending canned emails to us requested that we allow comments immediately. Go figure.
Lastly, feedback I have received from teachers has been one where they feel like they are being targeted and they are confused where this is coming from. A member of this group posted something specifically calling out the fact that a teacher lived in LI…as if that was a bad thing. These are professional educators that work for the DOE….this is a labor of love…and they commute from LI to help our kids…..who finds fault in where someone lives? This type of bullying and way of dealing with people negatively is not ok with me.
I know a lot has happened since George Floyd was murdered. A lot is changing. And people want change. And people I wanted to offer a slight alternate view of what has been written in the mail below. Of course, all are encouraged to ask questions, find facts, and discuss openly. If anyone would like to speak with me, please give me a buzz, text, or email. I would encourage you to do some fact finding on your own. Also, please continue to have faith and if you feel strongly about something work with the PTA and Admin…..I know that all are welcome in these forums.
These are really crazy times….and at times just the normal day seems like a lot to manage. I wish I could say all was great……but, it really is not. I have tried to keep quite mostly because of my work that has completed on the PTA…but, this week we really saw some awful things happen coming out of this FB group in the community and I needed to make you aware of what is going on to provide another view from my role on the PTA and as a parent. Please understand, I can’t go into detail because of confidentiality reasons, legal, and individuals’ safety concerns.
I wanted to add Ms Lubeck, Alora Bailey from FACE, Dr Best (Dep Superintendent), & Superintendent Winnicki onto this note and reply….because we (all) have been following this matter very closely since June because there really is a bigger picture and a series of consistent harassment and bullying over cyber that has really ramped up. The common thread for each of the episodes (over the past couple of weeks) seems to be that individuals are presented with a chance to be anti-racist and support the BLM cause only if they agree with the proposed petition which calls for the removal of individuals from staff at the school without cause and a other demands.
One of the incidents this week, involved a member of the community that I am sure most of you know and are patrons of their store was targeted over social media by 2 members of this FB Group and told to “decolonize themselves” and other things…and threatened..“I’ll make sure to let everyone I know personally and in social media know that the owners of (business X) do not support BLM or anti racism at PS 132”. This was said to our community member because they questioned whether or not it was legal to hire only black and brown teachers & noted that some of the demands don’t make sense. The victims of this attack are close and dear friends of mine and I can attest that they are very good people and do not deserve to be singled out in this manner. Nor does anyone. As a small business owner in the community and NYer…..I am not ok with this behavior and I do not support these actions. My friends were teamed up on by members of this group and effectively laughed at or the equivalent on social media and harassed…..no two ways about it.
Re: PS 132 Parents for Change, which are also the sponsors of the petition is group is a private FB group, I am having a hard time align to the demographic makeup of our community and they appear to only be open for dialogue to a few people internally and not on an open basis. I have reached to 2 other the administrators regarding the instance of a private group a week ago and my concerns and how this seems to be at odds with open dialogue and have not heard any response. Also, it has been brought to my attention over the past week that many of the individuals on the petition are not part of the local 132 community or North Brooklyn community. On a personal level, I do not know or understand how someone can call for the removal a person from their job without cause and not provide any evidence under any circumstance…also, more fundamentally what does this have to do with a message of BLM & anti-racism. I happen to know why this person is being targeted for removal and it has nothing to do with BLM or anti-racism that I am aware of…..it has to do with a larger agenda item that is being championed by someone the group that has nothing to do with BLM or anti racism….yet, this person is being singled out under the guise of being racist and anti BLM.
I have been speaking with other parents this week as well that have been asked to have them removed from tags because of harassment and they do not agree with the petition which is one of the reasons why we agreed as a board to stop comments to a post last week. This was done to disable members of the FB group from leveraged our platform for harassment immediately. We meet as a board (all of us) and voted to stop comments….the majority of the board agreed this should not continue. The two descending members are members of the group and authors of the petition. Our private communications were taken and shared over social media and misrepresented to drive a different narrative…which resulted in members of this FB group sending canned emails to us requested that we allow comments immediately. Go figure.
Lastly, feedback I have received from teachers has been one where they feel like they are being targeted and they are confused where this is coming from. A member of this group posted something specifically calling out the fact that a teacher lived in LI…as if that was a bad thing. These are professional educators that work for the DOE….this is a labor of love…and they commute from LI to help our kids…..who finds fault in where someone lives? This type of bullying and way of dealing with people negatively is not ok with me.
I know a lot has happened since George was murdered. A lot is changing. And people want change. And people want to talk change and share. If this is where you are as well…I would encourage that you consider what I am seeing and have witnessed under this FB group and petition……. I cannot stand for slander, harassment, bullying, and anything other than collaboration and open dialogue.
Thank you for your time and kindest regards…hope you are all well.
Dave Magdaleno – PS 132 Treasurer
*****Thank you to all the families that help us over the year…..we are closing our financials for tax purposes…and I have to say the enrichments and work we were able to do with your support and contribution was awesome. It makes doing this role for the PTA worthwhile to see the participation and partnership with our members. Cheers want to talk change and share. If this is where you are as well…I would encourage that you consider what I am seeing and have witnessed under this FB group and petition……. I cannot stand for slander, harassment, bullying, and anything other than collaboration and open dialogue.
Thank you for your time and kindest regards…hope you are all well.
Dave Magdaleno – Greenpointer, PS132 parent, and 2019-2020 PTA Treasurer
Sorry for posting again, I was working on a phone and made a mistake in pasting.
I wanted to offer a slight alternate view of what has been written in the section regarding this petition. Of course, all are encouraged to ask questions, find facts, and discuss openly. If anyone would like to speak with me, please give me a buzz, text, or email. I would encourage you to do some fact finding on your own.
These are really crazy times….and at times just the normal day seems like a lot to manage. I wish I could say all was great……but, it really is not. I have tried to keep quiet mostly because of my work that has completed on the PTA…but, this week we really saw some awful things happen coming out of this FB group in the community and I needed to make you aware of what is going on to provide another view from my role on the PTA and as a parent. Please understand, I can’t go into detail because of confidentiality reasons, legal, and individuals’ safety concerns.
I have been working w Ms Lubeck, Alora Bailey from FACE, Dr Best (Dep Superintendent), & Superintendent Winnicki following this matter very closely since June because there really is a bigger picture and a series of consistent harassment and bullying over cyber that has really ramped up. The common thread for each of the episodes (over the past couple of weeks) seems to be that individuals are presented with a chance to be anti-racist and support the BLM cause only if they agree with the proposed petition which calls for the removal of individuals from staff at the school without cause and a other demands.
One of the incidents this week, involved a member of the community that I am sure most of you know and are patrons of their store was targeted over social media by 2 members of this FB Group and told to “decolonize themselves” and other things…and threatened..“I’ll make sure to let everyone I know personally and in social media know that the owners of (business X) do not support BLM or anti racism at PS 132”. This was said to our community member because they questioned whether or not it was legal to hire only black and brown teachers & noted that some of the demands don’t make sense. The victims of this attack are close and dear friends of mine and I can attest that they are very good people and do not deserve to be singled out in this manner. Nor does anyone. As a small business owner in the community and NYer…..I am not ok with this behavior and I do not support these actions. My friends were teamed up on by members of this group and effectively laughed at or the equivalent on social media and harassed…..no two ways about it.
Re: PS 132 Parents for Change, which are also the sponsors of the petition is group is a private FB group, I am having a hard time align to the demographic makeup of our community and they appear to only be open for dialogue to a few people internally and not on an open basis. I have reached to 2 other the administrators regarding the instance of a private group a week ago and my concerns and how this seems to be at odds with open dialogue and have not heard any response. Also, it has been brought to my attention over the past week that many of the individuals on the petition are not part of the local 132 community or North Brooklyn community. On a personal level, I do not know or understand how someone can call for the removal a person from their job without cause and not provide any evidence under any circumstance…also, more fundamentally what does this have to do with a message of BLM & anti-racism. I happen to know why this person is being targeted for removal and it has nothing to do with BLM or anti-racism that I am aware of…..it has to do with a larger agenda item that is being championed by someone the group that has nothing to do with BLM or anti racism….yet, this person is being singled out under the guise of being racist and anti BLM.
I have been speaking with other parents this week as well that have been asked to have them removed from tags because of harassment and they do not agree with the petition which is one of the reasons why we agreed as a board to stop comments to a post last week. This was done to disable members of the FB group from leveraged our platform for harassment immediately. We meet as a board (all of us) and voted to stop comments….the majority of the board agreed this should not continue. The two descending members are members of the group and authors of the petition. Our private communications were taken and shared over social media and misrepresented to drive a different narrative…which resulted in members of this FB group sending canned emails to us requested that we allow comments immediately. Go figure.
Lastly, feedback I have received from teachers has been one where they feel like they are being targeted and they are confused where this is coming from. A member of this group posted something specifically calling out the fact that a teacher lived in LI…as if that was a bad thing. These are professional educators that work for the DOE….this is a labor of love…and they commute from LI to help our kids…..who finds fault in where someone lives? This type of bullying and way of dealing with people negatively is not ok with me.
I know a lot has happened since George Floyd was murdered. A lot is changing. And people want change. And people want to talk change and share. If this is where you are as well…I would encourage that you consider what I am seeing and have witnessed under this FB group and petition……. I cannot stand for slander, harassment, bullying, and anything other than collaboration and open dialogue.
Thank you for your time and kindest regards…hope you are all well.
Dave Magdaleno – PS 132 Treasurer, parent, & fellow Greenpointer.
*****Thank you to all the families that help us over the year…..we are closing our financials for tax purposes…and I have to say the enrichments and work we were able to do with your support and contribution was awesome. It makes doing this role for the PTA worthwhile to see the participation and partnership with our members. Cheers
This is a minor point, but PS 132 is not in Greenpoint, its Williamsburg.
We are white, and our child goes to 132 and is in the G&T program. The class is significantly more white and Asian-American than the rest of the school and district.
While we’ve been happy with the teachers and our child’s progress, it’s never really been clear to me that it is a program that needs to exist, nor that any of the kids are geniuses who must be taught separately to reach their potential. The admittance process is absurd, and essentially boils down to a little Kindergartener’s ability to take a very long test on a random day (some aided greatly by for-profit test prep businesses). If they are tired or hungry or, you know, acting their age, they probably won’t even make it through the test.
Surprisingly or not, not all the other parents with kids in this program share this perspective. Talk of racial bias, or of reforming or dismantling it makes them very upset. To be honest, the biggest outcome of the G&T program might be the flattering of the parents, giving us something to humblebrag about. The kids seem unaware.
If there has to be a G&T program, it shouldn’t exist until 2nd or 3rd grade, and it should be based on a holistic understanding of a child’s abilities and needs demonstrated over a longer period of time. In addition, any G&T class should reflect the demographics of the district it represents to mitigate the racial bias (intentional or not) in each schools administrators and teachers, who are overwhelmingly white (in some schools it’s at or near 100%).
Thanks for reporting on this important community issue. I did not read the demands of the petition in the same way reported here: the petition asked to increase racial diversity in the GNT and it did not demand the “end of the GNT” – big difference. And unfortunately these details will matter greatly to win over the (mostly white) part of our community who are currently benefiting from the racial segregation that the current GNT admissions upholds.
There is no demand to end the G&T program, only to desegregate it. Please make the correction.
@Tonia. Hi. Hope you are well. The claim on the petition that the PTA was suppressed is not true at all, I was there. Furthermore, members of the FB group we told we were to create a narrative. Following the murder of George Floyd, we as a board voted (all members) to actively support the BLM matters movement anyway we can which is what we did. why exactly are we targeting the school and people on this petition? why are there not any details or evidence provided when requesting the removal of the parent coordinator? regarding the class to change the curriculum and training with teachers, why not address these demands directly with the DOE? why has this petition and why are the private FB group compromising people’s privacy on social media, by threatening privacy on social media? why is open dialogue a core tenant of the BLM movement not supported for this petition and private FB group?
This is a great example of some parents at PS-132 who’ve taken the free time this pandemic has given them to stir up drama where it doesn’t exist. There is a man with an unclear agenda persuading others to fight admin but there’s not a hint of evidence that anything he suggests is anything more than his imagination. Lots of suggestions but zero evidence. These same clowns have squashed any mention of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and every other holiday the incredibly diverse student body may celebrate. One would suspect it’s better to expose kids to all holidays but no, this bunch suggests they should shut it all down. If it’s truly that bad, take your kids out of the G&T program and enroll them in the schools you’re zoned for. Why complain about a school you don’t have to attend? Simple answer, go to your zoned school and complain about some other administration.
“Life is a fight, but not everyone’s a fighter. Otherwise, bullies would be an endangered species.”- Andrew Vachss
“Life is a fight, but not everyone’s a fighter. Otherwise, bullies would be an endangered species.”
― Andrew Vachss, Terminal
Meanwhile, one PS 132’s white 2nd grade teachers is offering to teach pods during contracted school hours in the fall to wealthy white parents in the North Brooklyn Facebook Group. She has also posted her services in the North Brooklyn nanny and parent group in the spring while school was in session. It is becoming very clear that ew will be remote at least at the beginning of the year. I guess her students, the ones who are entitled to a free public education, won’t get live work during school hours.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/646969978967925