The Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District (SCI) released the office’s 2025 Annual Report.
Photo via Getty Images
The Special Commissioner of Investigation for the NYC School District (SCI) released on Thursday its 2025 annual report, detailing corruption, fraud and misconduct within NYC Public Schools, the country’s largest public school system.
The report revealed that last year, SCI received nearly 12,000 complaints of fraud, criminal activity, financial misconduct and abuse concerning the city’s Department of Education (DOE). The office initiated 471 investigations, closing 393, and ultimately substantiated wrongdoing in over 150 cases involving hundreds of individuals or entities.
Notably, the watchdog group identified nearly $2 million in financial losses to the DOE and city retirement systems—double the amount recovered in 2024.
“SCI plays a vital role in protecting students and safeguarding taxpayer dollars,” said Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman. “Our investigators, intake staff, attorney and support personnel work every day to root out corruption, expose fraud and ensure accountability in the nation’s largest school system, and when wrongdoing occurs, whether financial misconduct or inappropriate conduct involving students, we investigate it thoroughly and will not allow it to go unchecked.”
Many investigations centered on employee misconduct, theft and inappropriate relationships or communications. SCI conducted 157 investigations involving allegations of inappropriate or sexual misconduct and substantiated allegations in 62 cases.
The report showed that 23 cases involved DOE personnel initiating or maintaining inappropriate relationships with students via personal cellphones or social media.
Daniel Matuk, a teacher at William Cullen Bryant High School in Long Island City, engaged in a multi-year pattern of grooming and inappropriate communications with a female student. Separately, paraprofessional Sidney Jackson was substantiated for inappropriate conduct involving two female students, according to the report.
In both cases, SCI recommended termination and the placement of problem codes to prevent future employment with the DOE or its vendors.
SCI also helped law enforcement last year involving serious criminal conduct. In one example, a former middle school teacher at M.S. 256 on the Upper West Side, Ross Lanvin, was federally charged with possession of child pornography after investigators recovered explicit images involving minors from electronic devices.
Taxpayer money used for personal cheerleading
A case that made headlines last year involved Abi Corbin, a community associate at East-West High School of International Studies in Flushing, where she worked as a community associate in charge of processing work orders.
According to the investigation, she stole over $415,000 from the DOE by submitting fraudulent invoices to benefit her personal cheerleading company. Corbin resigned from the school and was indicted in October on charges of grand larceny and identity theft for scamming taxpayer funds intended for school materials.
In a separate case, Alfredo Mateo, a doorman at a residential building, stole $477,685 from the retirement accounts of a deceased member of the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS). Mateo diverted pension and annuity payments into accounts he controlled and impersonated the account holder in communications with TRS.
Investigators said they traced dozens of fraudulent transactions through bank and phone records. Mateo later pleaded guilty to grand larceny and identity theft charges.
SCI also released a report last year examining procurement rule violations at the school level, highlighting growing compliance concerns.
“I am confident that SCI’s work this year has strengthened accountability and helped improve the quality of life for students, families, and educators across New York City,” Coleman said.