As Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott entered a Bayside school last week for a Community Education Council meeting, he was greeted by a number of protesters who hoped he heard their message loud and clear — get rid of the principal at PS 118 in Hollis.
“He slid by really quickly, but he heard us,” Kisha Noel, a parent of a PS 118 puppil, said outside MS 74 last Thursday.
Parents have recently accused the school’s leader, Cynthia Ofori-Feaster, of doing everything from creating a hostile environment by bullying students, teachers and parents to getting rid of experienced teachers. A number of parents noted that the school went from receiving an A to an F on their 2009 city progress reports — the year Ofori-Feaster became principal.
The city Department of Education has said it is addressing parent concerns, though it would not elaborate. Ofori-Feaster did not respond to a request for comment.
Since parents protested against the principal outside the school in January, Noel said the leader has begun whistling a new tune.
“She’s bribing students with candy; she’s really changed her demeanor,” Noel said. “But it’s too little, too late.”
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