By Michael Morton
“They were humiliated,” said Elsie Saint Louis-Accilien, the executive director of Haitian-Americans United for Progress, a non-profit organization based in Cambria Heights that has taken up the students' cause at PS 34. “Something must be done.”The principal, Pauline Shakespeare, was not in the cafeteria at the time, but some of the punished students said she later offered them treats so they would change their story. Both Shakespeare and the assistant principal, Nancy Miller, were still in their posts as of Tuesday, parents and an area education leader said. A city Department of Education spokeswoman later said the administrators were the subject of an inquiry by the department's Office of Special Investigations, with Miller temporary reassigned starting Wednesday at her own request until the matter is resolved.”We take these allegations very seriously,” the spokeswoman said. “The chancellor has ordered a very thorough and quick investigation.” Parents and other members of the Haitian community demanded that the administrators be fired immediately. Carrying homemade placards, they shouted “Miller must go!” and “Shakespeare must go!” The controversy began March 16, when Miller responded to a fight in the lunchroom between two Haitian students, part of a bilingual class of fourth-graders and fifth-graders that is taught in both English and Creole. The assistant principal then allegedly made all 13 students from the class sit on the floor and eat their chicken and rice lunch with their hands, parents and students said.When students asked for utensils, Miller reputedly responded, “this is the way they are treated in your country, so we will treat you like dogs,” said Sony Isac of Jamaica, whose fourth-grade son and fifth-grade son were both allegedly made to sit on the floor.Some of the students said Miller used the word “animals,” not dogs.”I was sad,” fourth-grader Esther of Jamaica said, noting that teachers in the lunchroom did not intervene. While Shakespeare was not in the cafeteria, she allegedly later brought students in and offered them treats like ice cream, several of the students said.”She bribed us to make us change our story a little,” said fourth-grader Donovan of Queens Village, who refused to amend his account.Before the alleged incident, many parents were already upset that the parent teacher association had been suspended and other bilingual programs cut at the school, which has a sizable Haitian population. But they did not appear to have an ax to grind with the assistant principal from past complaints: The children said they had not had a problem before with Miller, who is white, and Saint Louis-Accilien said the students seemed like they were telling the truth about the lunchroom, based on letters they wrote describing the alleged incident.”These are the words of the children,” she said.News of the alleged incident quickly reached the Haitian community in Brooklyn and Florida. In southeast Queens, one education leader worried that the reports, if true, would create divisions within the area's School District 29.”I hope it's wrong,” he said.Parents met with representatives from the Office of Special Investigations Tuesday, and a rally was planned for the following morning at City Hall with elected officials from southeast Queens. The Jamaica chapter of the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People planned to hold a meeting on the matter Sunday night with community members and parents.”This is disrespect and discrimination,” Isac said.Reach reporter Michael Morton at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
