Students: KO’d-principal HS a mess
Students at the Murry Bergtraum HS complex were hardly surprised that a principal got slugged by a student in a hallway.
The building is in the shadow of Police Headquarters and boasts several schools with a business bent, but those who attend say they live in fear.
“They should just shut the school down,” said Dashawn Reid, 15. He pointed to an arrest Oct. 7 of a student who came to school stinking of marijuana and carrying a gun in his backpack.
Fellow freshman Blue Cooper, 15, agreed. “This is just crazy. You see the side of the school from the [Brooklyn] Bridge and it says Murry Bergtraum [High School for Business Careers]. And it’s got nothing to do with business and careers.”
Dr. Matthew Tossman, the principal who was knocked out, penned a note to the student body promising a swift return.
“As many of you know, I was injured yesterday during an incident in school,” Tossman said in the letter addressed to kids at Manhattan Early College School for Advertising, one of four schools on the lower Manhattan campus. “I am writing to thank you for the outpouring of support.”
The student, Luis Penzo, was arraigned Tuesday on assault charges and held on $5,000 bond.
His lawyer told the judge Penzo’s mom died in his arms of a brain aneurysm last year.
Penzo, 18, allegedly coldcocked Tossman after the principal tried to remove Penzo’s headphones in a hallway at noon Monday.