Dear parents and guardians, tax payers, the citizenry and to anyone whose heart beats for children. The story and episodes that I am going to tell you about is so bizarre one would think that perhaps this is “movie time.” But in fact it is not. Certainly, a bit of the suffering you would hear are in some respects not peculiar to us. Some Schools and Day Care Centers suffer some of the harassments we daily endure. If you fail to pander to DOH, they determine that you must suffer. However, few of us suffer more because we dared to ask questions on behalf of the children entrusted to our care/education. DOH is an agency when looked into, is largely responsible for families that perish in carbon monoxide deaths after “DOH just visited.” There is a reason why families and children go to bed and never wakes up, whereas, “DOH inspected their boiler a week ago”. There is a reason why 85 people perished in the club at Tremont Avenue Night-Club “a few days after DOH inspected.” The smoke alarm which did not go off, and a club house without exits and fire retardant doors were the reasons. Big buildings which trap and kill hundreds! “Oh but these big landlords had thousands of safety citations for years” is usually the response after-the-fact; but which DOH/DOB never enforced, never posted on the internet and certainly which Sen. Joe Klein never addressed.
The reasons are: These giant buildings situate in our communities and are maintained by minimum wage immigrant workers. Those who open businesses, more-so where these businesses have to do with our children and or our old parents; more-so children and parents who are struggling, and businesses which deal with lives and also situates in our communities. Those who dare say do not abuse and neglect those children and our old parents, those who do not give DOH “gifts” rather are striving to do what is right by parents and children. These are the people who become victims and are targeted as long as American parents continue to keep silent.
On behalf of all the children who attended this school years ago when it had asbestos 9 times higher than “acceptable” levels; those who may have died or are now suffering various health complications; On behalf of Ms. Paris the kindergarten teacher who died years ago of asbestos complications, and on behalf of parents some of whom speak little or no English Language, and have no idea of the fate that was dealt to their children. To school owners, small business owners who are hounded with tickets, uncalled-for visits, delayed applications and paper work, delayed approvals, denial of all other appointment, rights etc; and to those who would rather give “gifts” and look the other way, I must call to your spirits now to go back to why you engaged the business of molding another human being. To confront what was your commitment to yourself and to the Holy Spirit when you decided to invest perhaps all you have to raising our children
On the 16th of May 2013, several news men and women descended upon our school and requested confirmation and or rebuttal of Senator Jeffery Klein and DOH’S internet publication branding us “the worst Daycare Center in the Bronx with many violations.” The same Sen. Joe Kline in concert with DOH commissioned Channels 2, 4, 5 and 12 to take the false internet publication they arranged and “to put this up for an EXPOSE that will make you an example to other school owners,” according to one of the Newsmen.
We immediately conducted each group from one class room to another, from bathrooms, kitchen and closets. They requested to see where we keep our cleaning agents, so I took them into the Boiler room in the basement. “we do not keep cleaning things on any floor” I retorted without any inclination as to why they posed that question except that one news man quibbed “ that’s surprising, Department Of Health alleged that you leave cleaning agents in classrooms” he concluded. They further disclosed that Sen. Klein spear headed their presence.” He is personally aggrieved against this school”. They required to know if I knew why he should feel that way? He has never been to our school he does not know our children or their parents. He doesn’t know how these parents survive; I suppose he wants to be re-elected, or has further sold his soul, if any, I concluded.
Certainly Sen. Klein is to us “a dormant politician,” who is either running for re-election, or whose popularity requires a false boost. The Children in Schools and Daycares in Minority Neighborhoods of the Bronx and Brooklyn are his token. But where had he been? What has he done to assist these children, these schools and the owners? What does he know about these Schools? Does he know how Department Of Health operates? What did he personally know about the so-called violations, its categories and elements which precipitated each of the violations? Do those violations contain substantive facts or fallacies and mere targeting stunts tantamount to continuous harassment and retaliation of our continued refusal to sustain a culture of BRIBERY/THE HANKY-PANKY which existed in our school before we took it over; and which may have killed and or maimed many children and teachers; our continued refusal of their abuse of our children’s well-being, their grievance about our not giving up on the question of their culpability in the deaths arising from Asbestos and Lead infection years ago? Where these witch hunt inspections or within the realm of the law? “Did he read these hundreds of violations”? Were they cogent and called-for violations? If so, were they corrected? Were those corrections posted with dates of such correction(s)? Did he ever hear from our parents? Does he even know the parents/children in the Bronx and Brooklyn? Has he ever used any of his committee and or any of his Political Platforms to assist these South Bronx children? Does he know how these parents/children survive each day?
FACT: Sometime in 1998 we bought a Nursery School formerly owned and operated by a certain Guthrie family. The school was initially operated as a regular Day care until it was accorded full charter, “Absolute Charter” and full standing as a Nursery School with a provision conferred upon it just after five years; the ability to further establish 9 other centers “anywhere in the world including opening one in Israel,” if they so desired.
The school was presented to my Aunt firstly as free of any health risk(s) and or other encumbrance(s) and to me later when I returned from England as thus: During the buying process the appraiser/Engineer from the bank, (Banco Popular), also lied about the very property they were mortgaging, and which was the indemnifying instrument (collateral); rather misrepresented that the building had less than the minimum required asbestos; (-1%). Department of health in responding to our disclosure letter also misrepresented all facts regarding the heavy deposits of asbestos and lead. Upon, or after-the-fact thought (my emphasis), and engaging an independent tester and investigator, we discovered that both the owner and the city had lied. That the copy of the appraisal and test results received from Banco Popular was in fact altered to show less than 1% asbestos.
During the closing process we came upon the fact that all records and files were removed. The former owner noted that she had no records, that the records were her private properties. A day after closing we discovered that the remaining contents of the school had been moved to the second floor where the owners resided. They were backed by DOH staff who cautioned, “Mam, this was their private school, those things were bought by them”. We were simply requiring the files, inspection records, other records of the corporation, I responded, but to no avail. A DOH consultant (Ms. McGhee) snapped.” Ms, what are you hoping to find in these records? this is a nursery for little kids. You bought the school, why not carry on and create your own records”. We were in awe, more so as to why DOH was intervening in the matter of “sale of personal property,” and why they appeared to be present all the times. We never got the records indeed. Certainly, something amiss, unthawed and sinister happened here, I observed to myself. Nearing the three month after we closed process and the struggle to gather ourselves for “the most strangest of bed fellow” as it were; between this DOH and a former school owner that is, a-seven-men troop from the Department of health swooped in one morning and served us with “Commissioners orders”, to forthwith remove asbestos and lead or be closed down. Establishing there from, Mrs. Guthrie’s allegation that DOH was aware of the high deposits of asbestos since 1969, but would rather come upstairs “to take my money and gifts.” DOH by the issuance of that order, also established for me a prima facie proof in the purview of my letter of “show cause”, and which letter earned me the tagged label of “whistle Blower”.
DOH kept at that harassment in weeks and months that followed the service of “Commissioners order.” Clearly someone fed a certain story to “the commissioner” or “the commissioner” knew or should have known that the poor children/teachers in this school had been exposed to the high levels of asbestos and lead which existed in the school we just purchased and “the commissioner” never issued an “order” for the poison to be removed in 50 years? Absent that reasonable conclusion, how did “commissioner” of DOH became intimate with the fact, enough to form a probable basis for the issuance of abatement order and threat of closing down the school within a span of 3 months?
The following weeks I placed several calls to the Commissioner’s office to secure answers to the questions above, but to no avail. Then the war of the DOH to “punish the whistle blower” was indeed established and had never stopped.
During my training with DOH, we were instructed that in each year DOH would make Three (3) inspection visits, to your school. One (1) announced and two(2) unannounced.
DOH began to frequent our school even as we struggled with the most expensive renovation to totally remove asbestos and lead. We caged around the building to safeguard the next building on the right and on the left with heavy tapolein. The contractors picked up the walls, ceiling and floors, careful not to disregard survey lines. One floor after another were picked apart , carted away, and rebuilt. The cost of shoring the whole rickety basement with heavy foundation stone alone was well over Seventy Nine ($79,000) Thousand Dollars. While this construction and the loss of pupil was going on, DOH would come at odd hours to issue violations for “heap of sand, holes where iron rods stood, or for materials loaded in the contractor’s dumpsters etc.
During the period of renovations they gave us altogether 33 violations and 4 Tribunals. They then began to measure the floors. One consultant would measure classrooms that are now clean, fresh and unclogged, and another would come and give a different measurement, yet a third and fourth would measure differently. Each consultant had contradicting capacity for each classroom. But we did not have former records to derive a comparison of how many pupil each class held under the ownership of the former owners. We only knew that there were 58 children at the time of purchase.
Meanwhile, we had executed licensing application to be approved in the “new owners names” DOH for no reason delayed approval for 11months and when it was finally approved it was approved for Mrs. Grace Guthrie!! Whereas, within the 11 months “tenor of delay” as they held on to our application we received scores of violations for “having not a license”. We began a new struggle of resubmitting the “wrong approval” to be changed to our ownership. But we were required to note the name of the Educational Director. We submitted three (3) names. One director was a PhD holder in Education and licensed, she was disapproved. The second submission was a master’s degree holder with 6 years teaching experience/license, she was disapproved. A third was a master’s degree holder he was first disapproved then partially approved by one Ms. Taylor, supervisor to our consultant. We then complained to Mr. Rangle’s office, copying DOH for their information and perusal. Two weeks later one of the masters degree holder was approved conditionally for no reason(s) other than to punish “the Whistle blower”. Between that first year until date DOH has disapproved 9 Educational Directors and denied other approvals to 12 head teachers. Then one afternoon, as we had finished the clean up and were now decorating and equipping the empty school, one of the men reached behind the radiator thinking one of the books in the box they just placed on the large radiator had fallen behind it, but to our amazement, it was a copy of the last inspection had on the school few months before purchase. Across the inspection record was the word largely memorialized” IN FULL COMPLIANCE.” Whereas, they carried on the removal of all records from the school, the God of these children by the hands of the Holy Spirit, threw the best one behind the radiator for us, I lamented.
We were in absolute awe. “IN FULL COMPLIANCE?” In a place which looked and smelt worse than an unkempt Senior Citizen Home? A place riddled with old dingy Wall papers, peeling paint, urine odour and dingy Class rooms where teachers sat in little rickety chairs and walked softly? Class rooms which held single bulb lights, moldy dark patchy walls spitting out soft grainy sand due to thick lead and asbestos saturation; a place where no learning was carried on and children played with sand trucks because “they are going to be brick layers and handy men.” A place which produced children for special education. A place where children’s snack was potato chips and their lunches consisted of rubbish third class food with cheap apples, scrapped off several rotten portions; where there were zones of roaches and rats ; where the consultants did not know the varied isolated sections, and were unaware of the two class-rooms down-stairs and or the teachers therein. A place where they exercised a singular interest according to the teachers who had taught in the school for several years: “GO UP STAIRS TO THE GUTHRIES APARTMENT TO GET WHATEVER THEY ARE BEING GIVEN FOR THAT DAY AND WALK OUT.” “They didn’t know our faces or names.”
This is the same basement wherein the kindergarten teacher taught for nine (9) years and became deafly ill with asbestos complication, and amidst narrating some of the shoddy and inhumane treatment they had received both from the DOH and the former owner she declared, “Connie I don’t have long to live, they said I have water in my lungs from working here,” she tearfully concluded.
Thereafter, I sent “a show cause letter” to DOH requiring to have copies of past inspection records, list of children, addresses and telephone numbers of parents whose children attended this school during the last 20 years at the least. Further to the above, to know why and how DOH failed to realize that there was that much asbestos in a place where children spent inordinate amounts of time, year in year out; vis-à-vis, (7am to 7pm, 5 days a week and 12 months every year). I required to also know in precise language what steps if any, they took. On the forenoon of the third (3rd) day of having personally delivered the noted letter to the Directors at No. 2 Lafayette Street, we received a visit from two (2) supervisors and the school’ consultant vis, Ms Brenda Taylor, Mr. Hugh Phillips and Ms. Ivy McGhee. They simply verified whether indeed we did write the letter referenced above. I answered affirmatively, and forthwith, they handed over a one page note; (tantamount to cease and desist); but which they considered “a visit to nip this confusion in the bud.”
A few days thereafter the consultant would confront me as I tried to stop them for the 3rd or fourth time from going into where our children slept and from walking on their covers and stepping over them as if they are logs of wood. The consultant paused to council me thus: When you are ready I will tell you to go and learn from Mrs. Guthrie how people should treat consultants. “Consultants can be your friends or your worst enemies, we make and break schools, and I like you to remember that you don’t have to say everything you know just because you know them. Ms. Abraham, she continued, “this is a business, these are other people’s children, these are not your children. I see you want to do good things for these people, but it’s not worth you and your family losing this school”.
I refused to dignify the subtle threat with further communications except to telephone one of the visiting supervisors to doubly confirm that I would still want to receive the copies I required. After a few weeks, the consultant came to the school and left a patchy note for us saying in a nutshell, “you meet me at this designation, I wish to explain to you how Mrs. Guthrie was able to run her school all those years without any problems.” I read the note but retorted to myself, “am I a problem to her?” I was unable to digest the fact that DOH was impeding our efforts at obtaining the tools which would aid the serving of our children. I certainly did not understand their role in the discussions and interactions with the out-going and former owners until the former owner made blatant statement thus; “if you sue me, be sure to sue DOH too, they’ve been taking my money and gift bags all these years. Why do you think this place look like this? They don’t help you with whatever it is they want you to do for their kids, who is there to care? And here you are to clean up New York? But you are the one to be getting the violations if you don’t wise up dear,” she concluded.
The sum of our conversations or perhaps condescending intimations consisted of Ms. Brenda Taylor, Mr. Hugh Phillips, Ms. Barbara Glover-Cox and Ms. Ivy McGhee frequenting the school to adversarially engage us on one thing or another thus: “There is no one we know who would spend over half a Million Dollars removing Ceilings Walls, Floors and then change the toilets and basins and everything . Ms. Abraham, this is not cost effective. We are on your side.” And my immediate response was “Madam, from the outset, you all knew that our purpose was to buy this school and to use its platform and the various unseen platforms of all the poor and unrepresented children and families all over this nation to change how millions of Americas children are regarded and dealt with. I want to change the culture of fear and silence while our children and old parents continue to be used as disposable political and socio-economic tools. I want to change the quiet repression of little children, especially little girls being educationally, intellectually disillusioned and undermined. I want a clean, calm atmosphere where children, teachers and visiting parents would no longer contract something deadly or die. NEVER AGAIN.!! Our children are not elements for special education. They are not to be used for statistical points for the receiving of Federal Grants and matching funds for Cities and States. They are not Quotas for Foster Care Agencies to meet their burden for receiving grants and other funding. They are not prospective Prisoners or numbers which would aid and sustain the privatization of the prison industry. They are not prospective welfare teen mothers who must enable and sustain the steady flow of Federal Welfare allotments to Cities and States. They are not the switch on and off button for when you wish to be elected or re-elected to office. But those children and parents continuously ask you, Mr. what’s my name? The Politician thinks your name is “HEY KID and HEY MAM.!! But he is daring to touch your hand today, but he is taking pictures with you today to boost his re-election rating?
At a different juncture of their confrontation, I further reminded the consultants that one of the former dynamics which existed in this school years ago was the “Quid-pro quo” quiet understanding and or agreement that these children be kept behind closed doors, not to be taught so that they instantly became materials for Special Education; meanwhile, as you take “gifts,” you must look the other way. But “Quid-Pro-Quo” is only an acceptable, (integral for crocked police officers), part of Criminal Law, not in any context acceptable when it negotiates away our children and elderly parents lives. I want you to understand clearly and accept the change,” I noted. There shall no longer be sustained a culture of what occurred here years ago. These children are no longer chattels for the lowest bidder. The public Schools around the Bronx and Brooklyn had for years satisfied their quotas for their Special Education programs from this school and many other day-care and private schools whose proprietors and or owners believe they do not have to fight for the children they care for. They behave thus because of fear of the “Vindictiveness, Bullying, Intimidation, Harassment, Malicious Persecution, and or Retaliation” from and by the Department of Health, such as we face daily. These agencies receive their various subsidies whereas, our children are condemned, written off, or languish in half-baked High School Education saturated with politics and turmoil. Then those of them left standing are for the “picking,” if they refuse to die young or by Grace were not shot down on the streets. NEVER AGAIN, I exclaimed.
Having come fully into the understanding of the odds stacked against our children I continued, do not criticize our curriculum as “a bit high for these children.” When we purchased the school, there were no books, crayon, pencils or a single children or adult computer; no musical instrument, nor play learning puzzles; no manipulative for fine and gross motor skills. The children were playing on sand everyday, on an unsanitary, unkempt backyard with broken plastic sand trucks; because “they would be Brick-layers and Handymen.” What would you want the little girls to become I snapped back? Oh well, fry hair or make corn-rolls, you know, whatever; the former owner answered.
The DOH and the other agencies never told these children that God made them at a special time to be the greatest.
Whereas, DOH continuously, arbitrarily and with malice disqualified many of our certified, well-educated and experienced staff, yet for unexplained reason(s) outside the mix of all of these corruption, it is a “simmering talk” that some consultants of DOH, DOB, and other agencies, do solicit SEXUAL FAVOURS ; vis-à-vis, an uncertified, unqualified assistant teacher with foreign credential which memorialized not one iota of EARLY CHILDHOOD experience or education, but “a Masters in Education Management,” was suddenly approved as “After-School Director” within my two week of indisposition in the hospital? Whereas, from 2002 to 2008, we received 113 notices of violations for up-dates of one thing or another which DOH claimed were missing and could not qualify well trained and experienced staff? Between 2003 until present we have received 167 repeated additional requests tending to disqualify staff papers submitted for one approval or another.
Between 2007 to 2013, the process of our license approvals had gone from unauthorized change of “corporate classification,” reduction of capacity, and change of hours designed to discourage working parents and guardians from registering their children in our school; vis, if you cannot get children, you would close the school.
Between 2010 until at least July of 2013, DOH would seat in a car in front of our school and would come in and issue violations, (NO EDUCATION DIRECTOR ON SITE, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LOCKED PERSONNEL FILES IN HER OFFICE ); as soon as either the administrator or Education Director steps out; or would come in and issue violations while staff are down town to respond to DOH’ Tribunal Citations.
In November of 2012, our school, the whole school was “mistakenly” ordered closed for the third (3rd) time “MISTAKENLY”? two times of which were ordered from Ms. BARBARA CLOVER-COX.
Further to the above, I say to you today my nation, our parents, DOH and corrupt politicians; “Change and Prosperity is the destiny of these children”. We serve you notice our nation, parents and DOH; our children are fashioned for more than Special Education, for more than dilapidated surroundings, for more than second rate or non-existent dreams and education, absolutely for more than food stamps and welfare apartments tantamount to, “you would live where I want you to.” They are for more than the illusions of grand, and or collective ignorance. In the purview of all of these unmistakable abuses; Harassment, constructive closing of our business, punitive and retaliatory denials, withholding of approvals and malicious publications, libel, interference, etc. We could have sold the school, sold the attached centers, made blood amounts of money and walked away. But why should we? Why should strangers who do not possess the best interest of our children, whose only stake and or investment in Americas children is the ability to purchase schools and its chartered branches or other businesses. When did money become a qualifier or an edge over our children’s lives? When did our children become negotiable instrument and commodities for profit?
Day after day, week after week, the consultants would stream in and out. At another engagement in 2002 Ms. McGhee our then consultant (who was later removed) noted “you know by now that a lot of people want you gone”. You are too emotional Ms. Brenda Taylor urged in support. “You people spent a lot of money to buy and remove all this Asbestos and lead,” I know this school Ms. Abraham. This is nothing like the school we knew” some of us knew that you have suffered a lot. But you are emotional, you do not know what we know about our City, our State and how our nation looks at folks like us, folks think right now that you are messing with all the years they’ve put in their jobs and retirements. We just do not want all these to go away. They are not going to let you run a business, if all these explodes. Do you ask yourself why folks do not sue DOH or other City /State agencies? They won’t let you be after you sue them. Let all these go Ms. Abraham she concluded.” I enquired from Ms. Taylor and Ms McGhee if I should consider the discussion a “threat”? Let it go Ms. Abraham she repeated. Do you indeed mean let these children go on the way they had been? Or do you mean I should have let them stay in the death trap of Asbestos and lead? You mean the way that you had them here in quarantine, in Public schools and in large buildings inhabited by poor and struggling families? Don’t you mean come in and quietly make some money, and retire and sell the remnant as the former owners did while the children go away and die one by one I questioned? We are in a Capitalist country Ms. Abraham you are angry after spending all these money but that’s your doing, the City did not make you remove Asbestos that way, there are other less expensive ways. “This your total removal of walls like you are rebuilding a whole palace” is not cost effective Ms. Abraham. You of all people should know that”. With that I required the consultant and her Supervisor to leave and we were written up for asking them to please leave us to do the job before us.
In referring to the previous narrations of the Camera-man and their failure to air the sudden visit/pictures they took of every corner of the school surroundings and class-rooms, because what they saw failed to sustain their lies, we must urge Sen. Joe Kline to Cease and Desist forthwith from making conclusive declarations or the issuing of commands absent a mastery and or his becoming acquainted with what underlying facts he may uncover. These children are not mere political porn or tools. If you don’t know their names, where they live or what they eat to grow, don’t use them as your one (1) minute political grand stand, whatever the temporary inducement.
I therefore dare to remind America of few of the blessings God gives as reminders of His blessings upon us thus: “Brother President Clinton, although hunted to be killed; is an American Gold. Michael Jordan is an American history. Opra Winphrey is America’s gift in many respects. Kevin Durrant is an American treasure”. If he had been neglected, shot or killed either with bullets, hate or prejudice, Oklahoma could not have received a million dollar today to assist alleviate the untold hardship which befell them lately. Dr. Phill is an American treasure to the young and to our families. Maya Angelo, America’s virtue, a gift. “President-to-be”, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Americas virtue, an “un-negotiable” virtuous wife/sister. And President/Brother Obama, the revelation of God’s Grace and God’s ability to disappoint the wicked.” Let us be wary of discounting any human being, lest we are made wretched. A nation which hates millions of her young is at the brink of extinction and as long as a son is free only to come and go but not given the keys to the home, he is not better than the house keeper.
But I know that the value and cost of our children is far more than the value and cost of the oil in the Alabaster Box. They are precious, and are worth this harassment and suffering.
The Lord reward you of your deeds against children and all who are helpless!!
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