‘Payoff’ lessons
Critics: DOE $hields abusers
When Maria Catenacci finally left John Bowne HS after the city did nothing about her sex-harassment complaints, she claims principal Howard Kwait abused her one last time.
Kwait gave her a bear hug, lifted her up and kissed her, the assistant principal’s lawsuit charged. And as she walked out of his office, Kwait “deliberately slapped her on the buttocks.”
The Flushing, Queens, principal — who once “simulated sexual intercourse” while pressing against Catenacci’s body, she claimed — was emboldened by the Department of Education’s failure to act on sex-harassment complaints, critics charge.
Habitual harassers have gotten away with outrageous behavior for various reasons, say victims, lawyers and education insiders.
For one, DOE higher-ups protect abusers who do their bidding, some say.
“Many principals are given immunity because their job description is to make their school and the DOE look good, even if they’re really not so good,” said Betsy Combier, a veteran paralegal who defends disciplined teachers.
Also, the DOE is slow to probe complaints — or it sweeps them under the rug, critics say.
Procedure had dictated that a probe was halted when a lawsuit was filed, but under a new policy unveiled Friday, city lawyers will share their findings with the DOE, which can use them to begin disciplinary proceedings, a spokeswoman for Mayor de Blasio told The Post.
But tenure rules make it hard to fire offenders. After lengthy administrative trials, hearing officers often decide to fine rather than terminate.
The city revealed last month it fielded 570 sex-harassment complaints in the DOE between 2013 and 2017, but substantiated just seven. At first, de Blasio blamed a “hyper-complaint dynamic,” but he later tweeted: “Come forward with your stories. You will be believed. You will be supported.” Victims cite little or no support. “They do these alleged investigations, but never find anything. Then it goes to court and they try to wiggle out of it,” said lawyer Jonathan Tand.
In Catenacci’s case, she said she twice reported Kwait’s sexual advances and “bizarre and inappropriate” comments to the DOE’s Office of Special Investigations.
Kwait often asked Catenacci, who is gay, whether she was “f--king” female colleagues. In 2010, he told her he “watched his mother rape his father,” and “once molested a girl on his sink,” according to the 2014 suit.
Catenacci also told investigators that Kwait directed teachers and administrators to change and “artificially inflate” students’ grades at graduation time. Raising the passing rate “makes Mr. Kwait look like he is performing better,” her suit said. “No remedial action was ever taken.”
Lauren Prettitore, an assistant principal who won $130,000 in September in a fourth sex-harassment case against Kwait, called him the “DOE’s golden boy.”
Last year, John Bowne HS had a 73 percent graduation rate, but only 46 percent of students had test scores high enough to enter CUNY without remedial classes.
The city has paid a total $830,000 to settle five lawsuits against Kwait.
New DOE chancellor Richard Carranza ousted Kwait from the school on Friday after The Post asked about his alleged miscon- duct. But Kwait was just “reassigned” to an office. He will still collect his $156,671 salary
The city recently settled a second sex-harassment suit against David Jimenez, principal of the Manhattan School of Science and Mathematics in Harlem, for a total of $200,000 in payouts. Jimenez, who makes $173,707, will not be disciplined, the DOE said Friday.
“It’s crazy,” said Eric Nadelstern, a deputy chancellor under exMayor Mike Bloomberg. “You never settle a sexual-harassment charge and keep the person in the school. Do an investigation, and if he’s guilty, get rid of him.”
John Shea, CEO of the DOE’s facilities division, has cost the city $800,000 in two settlements, including $750,000 to one woman who alleged Shea fostered a frathouse atmosphere and paid her less than male colleagues.
Shea’s current salary: $206,628.