City Department of Education lawyers grilled First Deputy Chancellor Daniel Weisberg behind closed doors this week amid accusations he covered up misconduct by two top execs, and then rewarded them with hefty pay hikes, The Post has learned.
On Wednesday, DOE lawyers met with Weisberg and his chief executive, Christopher Groll, asking them to explain why they doled out salary increases to Amanda Lurie and her boss, Chief Enrollment Officer Sarah Kleinhandler, said a source close to the situation.
They also asked Weisberg whether he shared an explosive Office of Special Investigations report on the misconduct with Chancellor David Banks, the source added.
The meeting came days after The Post revealed the findings against Lurie, senior executive director in the Office of Enrollment, and Kleinhandler, who is accused of failing to supervise Lurie.
That evening, Brooklyn teacher Martina Meijer angrily raised the “elephant in the room” during a meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy, at which Weisberg filled in for the vacationing Banks.
“I ask you to demand answers, because we are still waiting for them,” she told the panel.
Meijer said the scandal inspired her to coin a new DOE acronym, RISI, for “Rewarding Incompetence and Stonewalling Inquiries.”
Weisberg said nothing.
“Is this the type of leadership that Dan Weisberg expects schools to emulate?” the teacher asked after the meeting. “ I hope that the DOE would seek to alleviate public distrust by taking this corruption seriously. Instead, what we see is a cover-up and further lack of responsiveness. How does this build trust?”
Lurie was a chronic no-show, rarely visited the Family Welcome Centers under her watch, and sold clothes on Poshmark during DOE time, while Kleinhandler long ignored complaints about her underling, according to Jonathan May, the OSI investigator who conducted the probe.
Weeks after receiving the report, Weisberg named Lurie a “special adviser” in his office. Groll, who handles finances, raised her salary from $199,118 to $208,000 a year. Kleinhandler also got a raise from $204,106 to $220,000.
“Weisberg sat on the report for months and took no disciplinary action, but gave them promotions and raises,” the source said, calling it unacceptable.
It’s unclear what role, if any, Chancellor Banks had in the matter. “Where is David Banks on this?” the source said DOE staffers are asking.
Last April, both Weisberg and Banks received emails, obtained by The Post, from an enrollment staffer, who pleaded with them to halt the “retaliation” for cooperating with the investigation. The staffer was assigned to an office much farther from her home. The Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools is looking into that complaint.
Weisberg, Banks, Groll and a DOE spokesman gave no response to questions.
