Complaint Review: Saint Stephen of Hungary/Allyson Genova-Hall - New York, NY, USA New York

Before You Enroll Your Child at a Catholic School, Make Sure to Ask the Principal and Staff, "How did you get this job?

The criteria for their selection and job retention are loyalty to the archdiocese and willingness to execute the archdiocese & rsquo;s agenda by whatever cunning means necessary.

On September 20, 2020, The New York Times reported that 150 catholic schools across the country would permanently close, representing 2% of 6,583 that were operating the previous year. Twenty of those closings would be in New York. The reasons cited at the time was a long-term trend of declining enrollment and donations. Apart from pandemic-related issues, about 100 Catholic schools were closing nationally each year. In 1970, some 4.4 million students attended Catholic elementary and secondary schools; In contrast only about 1.6 million students attend Catholic schools today (WSJ).

This year, the Archdiocese of New York ;announced that another 12 schools in New York would cease functioning and four would merge into two at the end of the 2022-2023 school year, a decrease of 14 schools in addition to the twenty that closed in 2020. These closings were unexpected considering they represented a very inexpensive alternative to independent private school (St Joseph of Yorkville annual is $7,200 while The Chapin School, two block away, cost $60,000 annually plus a $2,000 computer fee and other dues). Yet, even as The Chapin School has a waiting list to get in, catholic schools are facing declining enrollment. 

So why are families turning away from catholic schools? Like the archdiocese itself, the catholic school system has a crisis of leadership & nbsp;and this is by design. Let's start with the principalship of their schools. When the criteria for choosing a school principal is based on their cunning character, stunning viciousness towards children, and willingness to execute the archdiocese agenda, with no concern for quality of education, families will run and never look back. I know something about this because I experienced it firsthand with Allyson Genova-Hall & Saint Stephen of Hungary School.

For the purpose of comparison, let & rsquo;s examine the selection criteria for education professionals who aspire to be a school leader & mdash; superintendent, principal or assistant principal, etc in the New York Public School system. New York City public schools are overseen by a state-licensed principal and assistant principal:

"You must have the proper NY State certification to qualify for supervisory positions with the New York City Department of Education. Candidates for principal, assistant principal (AP), education administrator (EA), & nbsp;or & nbsp; & ldquo;supervisor of & rdquo; & nbsp;positions & nbsp;must hold one of the following certificates issued by the state Department of Education (DoE): School Building Leader (SBL), School Administrator and Supervisor (SAS) or School District Administrator.

To get a sense of the complete list of requirements to become a school leader in the state & public school system is listed on the NYS Office of Teaching Initiatives.

One requirement of the vetting process is seven or more years of pedagogical experience as outlined in Chancellor & rsquo;s Regulation C-30. The C-30 regulations governs the process of selection and appointment of Principals and Assistant Principals. Besides the criteria for selection, more importantly, C-30 lays out procedures for complaints about misconduct and penalty for inappropriate action and misconduct. I.e., your public-school principal is not only a licensed professional who has gone through a sound, vetting criteria, their mettle has also been tested by a long, teaching career. And, as with other licensed professionals, if something still goes wrong after all this vetting, the city and state have put appropriate channels and penalties in place for dealing with unethical conduct.

In turn, the school leaders are overseen by a certified superintendent (School District Leader (SDL)) who has gone though an even stricter vetting process.

And how does the archdiocese select its school leaders such as principal, assistant principal, superintendent etc? I don't think anyone outside of their secretive and opaque circle really knows: There is no transparent vetting criteria posted on any of the archdiocese websites as there is on the NYS DOE websites. Catholic school teachers and leaders at any level of the hierarchy are NOT state-licensed professionals. Thus, they are outside the state and city regulatory system. They have nothing to loose since professional licenses aren & rsquo;t on the line. There are no state channels or penalty system for unethical conduct or abuse of authority concerning the children under their care. It is lawless: anything goes and anything does go. Simply put, parents have no recourse except to come up with the legal fees for court. And this lack of process -vetting, licensing, channels, and penalties for unethical behavior & mdash; has serious negative consequences for the children under their care. These consequences have both short- and long-term impacts on their victims.

I & rsquo;ve been a catholic school parent for three years, the last school was the Saint Stephen of Hungary School. The district Superintendent is Anthony Biscione, Regional Superintendent, Michael Deegan. And this was my impression of their school leader & rsquo;s selection process: They were not selected to further educational development through sound pedagogy; They were not placed there to look out for the child & rsquo;s well-being; They were not put there to exercise compassion for the most vulnerable members of our society. Instead, they were placed there to carry out the agenda of the archdiocese. The criteria for their selection and job retention are loyalty to the archdiocese and willingness to execute the archdiocese & rsquo;s agenda by whatever cunning means necessary.

And if you have the illusion that as a parent, when your child is abused, you have recourse to the Superintendent or Cardinal, you & rsquo;ll quickly find out that as you go up the hierarchy they get more cunning, more deceptive, and more vicious. You are knocking your head against a wall of evil with complaints to the superintendent and cardinal. In other words, you have no recourse but to find $40,000-$50,000 to hire an attorney to initiate court action. (Most victims simply walk away with long-term emotional damage and their story will never be told; their abuser never brought to justice). In the event you do file a lawsuit, the archdiocese has tried and tested tactics in place to further damage you. When in court, the archdiocese will most likely use a stall tactic to drain your financial resources on legal fees or declare bankruptcy after a few lawsuits have piled up as the Albany Archdiocese did three days ago.

Before you place your child in a catholic school, inquire about some of the specific points raised in this article, try to cut through the deception to get some answers, then visit your local public school if it is the education you are looking for.

(Allyson Genova hall owes me for the rest of the year's tuition, show choir tuition, pizza lunch money, my son's supplies, his jacket, and his violin, which I paid for)