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Educators at more than two dozen schools in Brooklyn wore black to work on a recent Thursday, an unusual public show of support for teachers at a school in their district who have concerns about mistreatment from their principal.
Teachers at P.S./I.S. 99, a K-8 school in Midwood, have complained about a lack of respect in the workplace, micromanagement, and a feeling of having to walk on “eggshells” created by the school’s principal, Hrysoula Niarhos, who’s been at the helm for more than four years. Several teachers told Chalkbeat they were reprimanded — including one who said she was also body shamed — in front of their classes.
Niarhos did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The conflict is notable because the United Federation of Teachers has taken a high-profile stance in support of teachers who oppose Niarhos by posting public testimonies, school survey data, and photos of last week’s solidarity action on social media addressed at the school’s building leader. On Monday, the UFT continued the public pressure by posting an editorial on its website and on Instagram calling out the principal for “intolerable” working conditions.
Union President Michael Mulgrew, who has also spoken out on social media, told Chalkbeat he’s infuriated that the principal has created a culture of “infantilizing” the staff. He said there’s a greater sense of urgency to address issues like this one because New York City is “no longer inoculated” from teacher shortages. With the state’s new class size law, the city must hire thousands more teachers.
Teacher turnover rates at P.S./I.S. 99 have been high in the past few years, with 28 teachers leaving the school since the principal took over in September 2021, according to union officials. The school has 71 teachers this year, according to school budget documents.
“It’s getting harder and harder to attract and retain teachers,” Mulgrew said. “Now, it’s more important than ever that … we make sure we are combating this type of behavior.”
Six complaints have been filed about Niarhos with the Education Department’s Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation since she became principal, officials confirmed. The complaints were referred to the Office of the Special Investigations, which handles allegations of improper behavior.
The Education Department did not respond directly to questions, referring Chalkbeat to agencies that oversee investigations.
Officials from the Council of School Advisors and Administrators, the union that represents principals and other school administrators, said the complaints represent the views of a subset of staff rather than the entire school community. Union President Henry Rubio also said teacher concerns are a result of the school leadership’s high standards for their staff.
“Ninety-nine is a school where the principal and both the current former superintendent, over time, have been slowly working with the staff to raise expectations and do what’s best for children,” said Rubio. “When that happens, adults sometimes feel uncomfortable.”
Rubio added that the concerns have not been raised directly with the principal.
“They’ve either gone straight to the superintendent or to social media,” he said.
But Kevin O’Donnell, a sixth grade special education teacher at the school who serves as the school’s UFT chapter leader, said that he’s tried “many different avenues” to resolve the issues, including formal conversations with Niarhos and bringing the issues to their representative for District 21.
The administrators’ union sent a letter to District 21’s superintendent Erin Lynch-Reyes on Tuesday, thanking her for her support of Niarhos.
“Effective school leadership often requires making difficult decisions in the best interest of children, even when those decisions are unpopular with some adults,” the letter read.
Lynch-Reyes did not respond to requests for comment.
Principal’s public discipline of teachers leave some humiliated
Annual surveys of teachers indicate a worsening problem at P.S./I.S. 99. In 2021, when Niarhos assumed her role, 100% of teachers reported a strong sense of trust in the principal. By last school year, that number had fallen to 54%, according to Education Department survey data.
Last year, the principal made teachers pull up their commute route on their phones and line up to show her that they could make it home in time for virtual parent teacher conferences, said Eric Goldberg, a middle school special education teacher who has been at P.S./I.S. 99 for 20 years.
“It’s just one of the many ways that she micromanages us on a day-to-day basis,” said Goldberg, adding that this happened at least twice before the UFT District 21 representative stopped the practice.
Last month, Nicole Scotti, a sixth grade teacher who’s been at the school since 2007, was teaching a class when the principal conducted a walk-through.
When the principal saw that Scotti had created a worksheet on ChatGPT, the principal shook her head, said “no, no, no,” and tsk-ed in front of her class, Scotti recalled.
Scotti said that her students noticed and began talking about it, which was “mortifying.”
“After teaching all these years, it’s almost like I’m second-guessing myself, but deep down inside, I know I’m a good teacher,” Scotti said.
Sixth grade teacher Cathy Guarnieri recounted how three years ago, she called out of work because she was in the hospital for kidney stones. When she returned to school the next day, Guarnieri said that Niarhos claimed her doctor’s note was fake and questioned her in front of her class.
When Niarhos asked Guarnieri how she was feeling, the teacher said that she was afraid to eat. In response, the principal told Guarnieri it was “a great way to lose weight for your wedding,” Guarnieri recalled.
“I was humiliated,” Guarnieri said.
Guarnieri kept that story to herself until she told it to Lynch-Reyes this fall during a schoolwide meeting. About 70 educators from the school brought their concerns to the superintendent in the hope that working conditions would improve, but some teachers feel that things have only gotten worse.
Not all teachers at P.S. 99 are unhappy with the principal, however. One teacher, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retaliation from her colleagues, said that Niarhos is a very “fair” principal who cares deeply about her students and holds her staff to a high standard. She recalled that Niarhos went out in the pouring rain to get Halloween party supplies for the kids this year.
“She cares about the students and the faculty, which is what you want in a principal,” the teacher said. She added that she thinks the social media campaign against Niarhos is “juvenile” and “disgusting.”
Guarnieri, who has been teaching at P.S. 99 for 15 years, said morale has plummeted. She used to always go to prom, graduation, and all the other after-school events, but not anymore.
“After 2:20 I walk out the door and I don’t think again about the school until I have to come in the next day,” said Guarnieri. “[The principal] grinds us down so much that we can’t wait to get out of the building.”
Jessica Shuran Yu is a New York City-based journalist. You can reach her at jshuranyu@chalkbeat.org.
