The city’s Department of Education is reversing course and no longer moving forward with a proposal to close a middle school on the Upper West Side.

Parents say they believe the reason is because of an alleged racist comment made by a parent during a community education council meeting.

What You Need To Know

The city’s Department of Education is reversing course and no longer moving forward with a proposal to close a middle school on the Upper West Side

Parents say they believe the reason is because of an alleged racist comment made by a parent during a community education council meeting

NY1 is the first news outlet to speak to Janette Waugh, the mother of the 8th grader who was speaking at the meeting

Waugh said her daughter is the martyr who saved her school but is also dealing with trauma from hearing those comments

Janette Waugh’s 8th-grade daughter spoke at the Community Education Council 3 meeting in February.

Her goal was to persuade the DOE to reverse course and keep Community Action School M.S. 258 open, along with three other schools on the Upper West Side.

Underenrollment is one reason the department was considering closing MS 258.

During her speech, Hunter College Professor Dr. Alyssa Friedman, who was listening on Zoom, made an allegedly racist comment on a hot mic, saying, “They’re too dumb to know they’re in a bad school.”

Friedman then misquoted and mis-attributed Carter G. Woodson, saying, “Apparently, Martin Luther King said it, if you train a Black person well enough, they’ll know to use the back. You don’t have to tell them anymore.”

Waugh says she was shocked when she heard the professor’s words.

“I was shocked,” she said. “I was shocked. I was appalled. I was humiliated for her, and then I was overwhelmed with guilt at that time because, as a parent, as a mom, I couldn’t protect her.”

Hunter College put Friedman on leave. She has not responded to NY1’s request via email and phone for comment.

The New York Times reported she said in a statement she was trying to explain systemic racism to her own child, saying, “my complete comments make clear these abhorrent views are not my own, nor were they directed at any student or group. I fully support these courageous students in their efforts to stop school closures. However, I recognize these comments caused harm and pain, while that was not my intent I do truly apologize.”

The hot mic moment many are calling racist went viral, but it might have saved Waugh’s child’s middle school from closing.

On Monday, almost a month after the viral incident, the Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, who was the former superintendent of the district, visited M.S. 258 and decided to keep it open for at least the next school year.

A city public schools spokesperson wrote in part in a statement, “Our focus must be on healing, stability, and ensuring students feel safe and supported.”

While some parents are glad the school will remain open for now, they are concerned about the reason why.

“[Communiy Action School] is safe because we had a viral moment, not because our kids were being considered, not because our kids were being cared about, and the rest of these schools deserve the exact same consideration,” Nicki Holtzman, a school leadership team member, said.

Waugh says her daughter is still upset, and she’s concerned how the comments will impact her long term.

“She was the martyr to save the school because of what happened,” she said. “My daughter’s still gonna have trauma behind us.”

While M.S. 258 school will remain open for now. The fate of the other three schools in this district is still to be determined.