Saint Ann’s Protected Criminal Teacher at Students’ Expense, Report Says
The New York Times
The elite Brooklyn school commissioned an investigation after the arrest of Winston Nguyen, who is now accused of soliciting lewd photographs from students.
Top administrators at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn knowingly hired a felon to teach math and then “shamed” teachers, students and parents who expressed discomfort with his conduct “as racist or not progressive,” according to a scathing report released on Tuesday.
The teacher, Winston Nguyen, is now accused of soliciting lewd images from students and faces 11 felony charges, including using a child in a sexual performance, promoting a sexual performance by a child and disseminating indecent material to a minor.
But the report said that while its students were facing a barrage of online requests for naked picture and videos, the school was treating Mr. Nguyen as a valued employee whose unusual behavior was ignored or explained away.
“In some instances,” the report said, administrators “prioritized teachers including Nguyen over the concerns of students and their families about the teacher’s background or behavior.”
The elite private school — famed for what the report calls its “systematically asystematic” culture, celebrity parents and alumni, high Ivy League matriculation rate and unusual hiring practices — has been hobbled by scandals in recent years. It is unclear how the report will affect its reputation among parents of prospective students and fund-raising efforts.
