Apology for anti-abort video KOd – principal

The principal at the Lower East Side public school where a dance teacher showed fifthgraders a graphic anti-abortion video told parents at a recent meeting that the Education Department barred her from apologizing for the episode because it is afraid of being sued, a tape recording of the meeting revealed.

During an April 8 School Leadership Team meeting, Public School 184 Principal Iris Chiu told parents and faculty that her “hands are tied” because the city fears a lawsuit.

“That’s the culture of [the Education Department],” she said. “I have it in writing. I wanted to apologize. The legal said, ‘No, once you admit fault you open the door for lawsuit.’ And that is why I cannot use [that] language. In fact, the message I sent out on ParentSquare was edited three times by the legal and every single word came from legal, not from me.”

Chiu used the mobile app ParentSquare last month to address the “unsuitable video,” but instead of apologizing for it having been shown, she apologized for the “confusion” it may have caused.

“We are writing to let you know that it has been reported that an unsuitable video was shown to a class in the past two days,” she wrote at the time. “We apologize for any confusion that may have caused you or your children.”

Fourteen-year Education Department veteran Ju Ling Wei screened the controversial clip (below) for students in her second-period dance class at PS 184 — also known as the Shuang Wen School — two parents and one student who viewed the video told the Daily News this month.

The video depicts seven adolescents voicing their interpretation of a fetus’ thoughts as it grows in the womb. The theatrical climax comes when the fetus is going to be terminated.

Asked about the nearly fiveminute clip several days after watching it, PS 184 student Isabella Alvarado recited parts of it word for word. “‘It burns, mommy! It burns,’ ” the 11-yearold said, recalling one particularly arresting line.

During the April 8 School Leadership Team meeting, Chiu claimed that the teachers union advised her to “keep our mouth shut.” Teachers union reps declined to comment on the allegation.

Asked by people at the meeting if the teacher who showed the video had an agenda, Chiu said, “The teacher absolutely had no such intention at all. Her intention was to show students how to project their voices.”

Some weren’t buying it, and people could be heard scoffing at what Chiu said.

“That’s bulls—t,” one woman commented.

City school officials disputed Chiu’s version of events, which are being investigated.

Education Department spokesman Doug Cohen said city school officials never told Chiu not to apologize for the content of the video. “This isn’t true, and we always work closely with principals to keep families informed,” Cohen said.

Department sources who requested anonymity cited an email in which they said Chiu herself suggested apologizing for the “confusion” the video created and not the content.

Chiu and Wei did not respond to requests for comment.

One mother whose daughter sat through the video said she is mulling whether she should transfer her daughter to another school and plans to file a lawsuit over the incident.

“Civil rights were violated,” Liset Reyes, said. “They’re not taking any responsibility.”