Chancellor Banks removes two parent leaders from Community Education Council
GREENPOINT AND CITYWIDE — THIS TIME IT’S THE PARENTS’ BEHAVIOR getting them expelled from their respective elected roles on the Community Education Councils (CEC). Chalkbeat and Gothamist each reported on Friday that NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks (in an unusual action that the Department of Education confirmed) removed two parent leaders from their roles, one of whom was the president of Brooklyn’s District 14’s CEC covering the northern Brooklyn neighborhoods of Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick. They were accused of violating open meeting laws and city regulations. Tajh Sutton, the president of the CEC, and Maud Maron, a member of the CEC in Manhattan’s District 2, were ousted after a year of escalating tensions and reportedly uncivil behavior while fighting over transgender rights and pro-Palestinian advocacy. They are now parties to a lawsuit that Maron initiated. Sutton was removed for the distribution of protest materials that, according to the chancellor, have “justifiably been perceived by many community members as anti-Israel and antisemitic.” Sutton has refuted that argument, asserting that she has the support of Jewish members of the community who agree with her on the war in Gaza and the need for a cease-fire.
But Sutton also claimed that she received threats and a mailing containing excrement over her perspective on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. At one point, the council meetings were moved online.
✰✰✰
