A principal at a public elementary school in Brooklyn, N.Y., is under scrutiny for allegedly using school funds for her own private gym on the premises, the New York Post reports.
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Jazmine Santiago, the principal of Public School 269 in Flatbush, reportedly used school money to install her own gym—complete with bench press, pull-up bar, treadmill, elliptical machine, etc.—on the third floor of the school building, a source told the site.
Staffers have asked Santiago about the expenditure, but the principal has only said that she shared the gym with older students. However, the school goes up only to grade 5, which means that the oldest students are 11 years old and under 5 feet tall—much too young to use some of the equipment.
“Their bodies are not ready for a treadmill,” one teacher told the Post.
The gym was installed at the site of a storage room in June 2014, with no consultation, staff has claimed. The room, teachers added, was always locked, not accessible to staff or students.
“She comes in early, she goes to the gym. Even when class is in session, she’s still in the gym,” another teacher said. “The kids have their own gym. Her gym is on the third floor, and it’s her own personal gym.”
The teachers did not give their names to the Post out of fear of retaliation.
Santiago, the Post notes, who makes $125,319 a year, did not respond to requests for an interview. The school, which she has been responsible for for the past four years, has very low test scores, with only 16 percent of students passing state English exams last year and 12 percent passing state math exams.
According to the Post, a Department of Education spokesman has said that the agency will investigate.
Read more at the New York Post.
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