Gun Prentzas More than 200 students stood outside of William Cullen Bryant High School on Monday, protesting the principal they call “tyrannical” and “discriminatory.” How badly do you want an A?
Changes on final transcripts from failing to passing grades under principal Namita Dwarka have roiled W.C. Bryant High School parents and students.
Hot off a rally at the Astoria high school on Monday to protest Dwarka’s decision to cancel math and science programs and neglect special needs students, teachers have now come forward with allegations of rampant grade fixes.
“It’s all because she wants to increase graduation rates,” Gus Prentzas, president of the school’s Parent Association, told The News. “She would do anything to make herself look good.”
Gym teacher Peter Maliarakis, who claims he has a binder full of documents outlining Dwarka’s inappropriate behavior, was dumbfounded when he learned that one of his students had passed gym — even though he gave the senior a lowly 55 on his report card.
“I walked in with my girlfriend to get my final transcript, and I saw that I got a 65, so I passed,” said Peter McGroary, 18, who dropped out before graduating. “That’s when I saw my teacher and I said, ‘Thanks for changing my grade!’ But he said, ‘What are you talking about, I never changed any grade.’”
Without a doubt, students, parents and teachers agree, Dwarka is responsible, as this wasn’t the first time grades changed in her two and a half years as principal.
In 2013, the school’s health teacher Adele Lynn failed a student who didn’t show up to class for the whole marking period, giving her three chances to hand in a make up assignment. Lynn was then told by an assistant principal that Dwarka would “decide if (her make-up assignment) was acceptable,” Lynn wrote in a complaint with the Education Dept.
In the end, the student’s report card says her grade is a 45, but her final transcript says 85, according to filings obtained by The News.
“Ms. Dwarka never informed me that she was changing the grade. I checked the student’s transcript,” Lynn said in the complaint. “I have taught school for 24 years and have never experienced this amount of disrespect.”
For his part, McGroary said altering grades makes sense for the students who deserve it — but that didn’t apply to his situation.
“It’s one thing for your grade to be changed if you deserve it, but I didn’t,” McGroary said. “I was fooling around the whole time.”
Dwarka and the DOE did not respond to requests for comment.
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