The principal of a contaminated elementary school along Brooklyn\u2019s Gowanus Canal shamelessly told parents that she\u2019s sometimes too busy to relay critical information about the toxic air filling the school.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Principal Rosa Amato, who\u2019s been in charge of PS 372 since 2015 and rakes in over $200,000 annually, made the tone-deaf remark at a virtual town hall meeting Monday night, where roughly 80 fearful parents and community members questioned the air safety of the school\u2019s annex at 219 First St.<\/p>\n
One parent asked in the Zoom\u2019s chat why it took so long for letters that the Department of Environmental Conservation sent to the school to make their way to parents, referencing a February letter that wasn\u2019t sent out until over a week later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mitigation efforts at the annex began in 2024 after testing revealed elevated levels of toxic chemicals in both school buildings. Helayne Seidman<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, one week seems like a long time. But sometimes I am way too busy and miss things,\u201d Amato replied.<\/p>\n
Parents found out this summer<\/a> that mitigation efforts that began in 2024 at the annex \u2014 where the school\u2019s pre-K and kindergarten classrooms are located \u2014 were unsuccessful. While the state insists that levels of dangerous chemicals, including cancer-causing benzene and xylene, have been reduced to a \u201cnormal\u201d indoor range, families and experts aren\u2019t convinced, and are calling for total removal of the polluted soil underneath the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dan Tucholski from the Health Department and Aaron Fischer from Department of Conservation \u2013 the two state agencies handling mitigation efforts<\/a> \u2013 also attended the meeting and answered cherry-picked questions, but parents found Amato\u2019s response especially frustrating.\u00a0<\/p>\n Principal Rosa Amato attended the town hall on Monday. Obtained by the New York Post<\/p>\n Amato\u2019s response to to a question about delayed message delivery. Obtained by the New York Post<\/p>\n \u201cI was offended by Principal Rosa saying she was too busy to communicate properly and sometimes misses things. We\u2019ve had two years of mitigation failure and it has been RIDICULOUS,\u201d one parent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, wrote to The Post.<\/p>\n