School Administrators to New Rochelle Moms and Dads: We Are Your Kid's De Facto Parents

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (May 2, 2023) — If you thought bearing and raising your child meant you had a say in their life, think again. Parents in New Rochelle were told Monday that principals and school administrators are the de facto parents of all the children in the New Rochelle school systems.

In a creepy video posted to the City School District of New Rochelle Facebook page, New Rochelle Schools Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond and Human Resources Director Dr. Corey Reynolds, the incoming replacement for Raymond who quit halfway through his 3-year contract effective June 30, had the following exchange in a selfie-video directed at their administrative staff where Raymond tells Reynolds he gets the final word — and then reneges.

RAYMOND: …it’s also a day to recognize our principals and school leaders. So, Dr. Reynolds, you get the final word.

REYNOLDS: Thank you very much for all that you do on behalf of our students on a daily basis. You are the de facto parents for all of our kids. So keep giving them your love, and we will continue to love you.

RAYMOND: That's right.

REYNOLDS: Have a great rest of the week and the day and fantastic time with your kids.

RAYMOND: We appreciate your leadership can't do it without you.

A de facto parent is a person who has assumed the everyday role of parent to the child, typically within the context of a custody decision by a family court judge. This is not to be confused with the term in loco parentis, which refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some functions and responsibilities of a parent. In a school setting, typically within a primary or secondary school, by establishing rules of conduct and allowing non-corporal punishment for violating those rules.

The Supreme Court has applied the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to require certain procedural protections in cases involving parental rights and, broadly speaking, grants parents the right to direct their child’s upbringing, health, and welfare.

The idea that school officials could arbitrarily and unilaterally declare themselves the de facto parent of any child absent a court decision is frightening, illegal, and unconstitutional.

The bizarre statement by the twin Superintendents is made all them more chilling given the district’s long, documented history of inappropriate sexual contact, sexualized conduct and child rape by New Rochelle administrators, teachers, and staff.

Jose Martinez repeatedly raped boys in his office at Isaac E. Young Middle School. After numerous complaints of grooming behavior by staff to administrators and school board members, Martinez was promoted to Assistant Principal of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School before disappearing as police closed in on him. One investigator said a UV black light scan of his office for semen revealed what looked like a Jackson Pollack painting. Martinez was arrested, pleaded guilty and given 99 days shock incarceration, 10 years probation, and required to register as a sex offender.

Marisa Anton, a librarian at New Rochelle High School, was arrested after sexting lewd comments and images then propositioning a male student to meet at his house for what she thought would be a sexual encounter. Police were waiting and took her into custody. She was charged with Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree, a Class D Felony, She pleaded guilty and required to register as a sex offender.

Steve D. Brown, a TV/Media Specialist at New Rochelle High School and the manager of New Rochelle Educational Access Television, was removed from the building following complaints of “inappropriate text messages” sent to students at the high school. Parents of the students complained that Brown had proposed filming female students. Brown has been the subject of complaints in the past, going back decades.

David Lacher, a former New Rochelle School Board President, who left the board after he was found to have misappropriated more than $13,000, engaged in a sexual relationship with a woman who was a high school student when Lacher gave the commencement address at her school several years earlier. Lacher proposed a three-way sexual encounter with the girl’s mother. Lacher later filed criminal harassment charges against the girl but, according to her, continued to seek to have sex with her — and her mom.

John Fraioli, a teacher at New Rochelle High School, was arrested (twice) for repeatedly raping a teenage female student in the high school and at his home. He was sentenced to six months of shock incarceration with 10 years of sex offender probation for engaging in sexual acts with a student. He was ordered to surrender his New York State teaching license, and register as a sex offender.

David Diamond, an Assistant Director of Special Education at New Rochelle High School, and the Advisor to the New Rochelle High School Gay-Straight Alliance, was terminated after he ignored repeated warnings against “hosting” students in his office with the door closed. A teacher alleged she observed Diamond seated at his desk and a 17-year-old male student standing behind Diamond’s desk. The boy’s shirt was allegedly pulled up over his chest, and Diamond had both hands on the student’s stomach, rubbing the student’s body. Diamond was described as “flushed” and red-faced as the shocked teacher walked in, then out, of his office. Diamond, who had been repeatedly suspended following allegations of inappropriate behavior involving students in his office behind closed doors, was ordered not to allow student’s in his office at New Rochelle High School, not to have students in the building at all during exam week and stay away from the specific 17-year-old student. He was terminated after he once again violated these orders.

Patrick Clark, a school electrician, was arrested and convicted on a felony charge of Attempted Disseminating Indecent Material to Minors in the First Degree after he was caught in a Dateline-style sting set up by the Westchester County District Attorney. Clark discussed specific sexual acts, in which he would like to engage with the “15-year-old girl” including digital penetration, oral sex and sexual intercourse. The “15-year-old girl” Clark went to meet to have sex was actually a criminal investigator for the DA.

Donna Henry, a middle school Security Guard, obtained then transmitted a nude image of a 14-year-old girl to two other district employees, who then widely disseminated the image to other district employees. After Henry served a 30-day suspension, she was promoted, transferred to the high school and given a pay increase.

Leroy Manuel, a Security Guard, engaged in a sexual relationship with a student, as a result of which she became pregnant. The girl moved to Florida to have the baby. The matter was referred by the New Rochelle Board of Education to the Westchester County District Attorney's Sex Crimes unit, but no arrest was made.

Robert McLean, a Security Guard, engaged in sex with students. The matter was referred by the New Rochelle Board of Education to the Westchester County District Attorney's Sex Crimes unit, but no arrest was made. He kept his job for years but was eventually fired following his arrest for impersonating a police officer in another county.

Kyle Figueroa, a Security Guard, engaged in sex with students. He was caught on camera receiving oral sex from a student in a high school corridor. The matter was referred by the New Rochelle Board of Education to the Westchester County District Attorney's Sex Crimes unit, but no arrest was made.

Walter Hubbard, a Janitor, was terminated after being caught multiple times viewing pornography on school district computers. He, too, engaged in sex with students. The matter was referred by the New Rochelle Board of Education to the Westchester County District Attorney's Sex Crimes unit, but no arrest was made.

Anthony Newman, a glazier, sexually assaulted a district employee in City Hall.

This is the tip of a very large iceberg —cases that were fully substantiated and often resulted in an arrest and successful prosecution. There are many others. And this does include the large number of student-on-student incidents that were traditionally ignored by school officials. It does not even touch upon the many examples of non-sexual criminality by school administrators, teachers and staff.

Given the history, New Rochelle school administrators are just about the last group of people any caring, rational parent would want acting as the de facto parent for their child.

Student “No Means No” Protest Turns into Riot

Last year, students, fed up with school officials sweeping sexual assault allegations under the rug, organized a protest rally which erupted into a riot involving more than 1,000 students.

In the days that followed, one school administrator acknowledged what many knew all along: school officials had been covering up sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations for decades.

New Rochelle High School Students Plan Walkout Against District Silencing Victims of Sexual Assault

New Rochelle High School Student Walkout Turns into Free-for-All, Criminal Charges Filed

New Rochelle High School Principal Admits District Covered Up Sexual Assaults for Years