A Brooklyn high school principal has been removed from his post following accusations that he harassed and retaliated against an assistant principal whom he formerly dated.
Principal Steve Dorcely was reassigned from Urban Action Academy in the Canarsie neighborhood to a central New York City Department of Education location on Thursday, in the wake of Jordan Barnett’s harassment suit, the New York Daily News reported.
Such transfers are known colloquially in the department as being sent to the ‘rubber room’, temporary assignments where educators wait for months or even years as their administrative cases are adjudicated.
Barnett filed her lawsuit against Dorcely in November of last year, claiming he alternately harassed and retaliated against her on the job after she dumped him for cheating.
Principal Steve Dorcely (left) was reassigned from Urban Action Academyto a central Department of Education location on Thursday, in the wake of Jordan Barnett’s (right) suit
In the suit, Barnett, 36, said that Dorcely once sneaked up on her as she was bending over to plug in her cell phone.
‘Put your butt on me,’ she claims the leering principal whispered in her ear.
The following month, Barnett said she was talking with another teacher about a breast cancer scare due to cysts, which Dorcely overheard.
‘That’s because no on is sucking on your (breasts),’ Dorcely later opined, according to the suit.
Dorcely started with the school district as a computer aide in 2000. He reportedly rose to administration with only substitute teaching experience, and last year made $154,826.
Neither Dorcely nor an attorney representing him could be reached for comment.
‘The decision to dismiss Mr. Dorcely as principal of Urban Action Academy was made in the best interest of students and families, and after a careful review of the school’s performance under his tenure,’ Education Department spokesman Douglas Cohen told the News.
‘The superintendent’s office is working closely with the school to provide additional support and ensure a smooth transition.’
Urban Action Academy (above) opened in 2008 with a focus on law and public service. But the school has poor graduation and attendance rates, and a history of scandals
Urban Action Academy opened in 2008 as a public high school with a focus on law and public service. But the school has poor graduation and attendance rates, with only 58 per cent of students graduating in four years, according to Inside Schools.
The school has made headlines in the past, including in 2016 when a whistleblower told the New York Post that administrators there promoted a cheating culture, naming both Barnett and Dorcely.
Also in 2016, a social studies teacher at Urban Action Academy accused Dorcely of covering for a group of students who hacked her social media and exposed messages to her lover thanking him for ‘a couple of orgasms’.
‘The very fact that it took five days for the school to report the incident, and knowing they never interviewed any staff or students and did not conduct a proper investigation, makes me fearful to return to work because my own administration and deans are not there to protect me,’ the teacher wrote in a letter to her union rep.
Following Dorcely’s ouster, Angelo Marra will take over as principal at Urban Action Academy until an interim acting principal is named, school officials announced.