January 31, Hon. Joel I. Klein Chancellor New York City Public Schools Department of Education 52 Chambers Street, Room 314 New York, NY 10007

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1 January 31, 2007 Hon. Joel I. Klein Chancellor New York City Public Schools Department of Education 52 Chambers Street, Room 314 New York, NY Re: John Donaldson Valerie Straughn-Kall SCI Case # Dear Chancellor Klein: An investigation conducted by this office has substantiated that John Donaldson, formerly a teacher at East Brooklyn Congregations/East New York High School for Public Safety & Law ( EBC/ENY ) in Brooklyn, knowingly collected more than $67,000 in New York City Department of Education ( DOE ) salary after he had resigned his DOE position. 1 In addition, this investigation has revealed that DOE Office of Legal Services ( OLS ) Attorney Valerie Straughn-Kall failed to notify the proper DOE personnel about Donaldson s resignation thus causing, at least in part, a delay in discovering the teacher s overpayment. 2 The investigation began on November 7, 2005, when DOE General Counsel Michael Best contacted the office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District ( SCI ) and reported that Donaldson, who had signed a Stipulation of Settlement resigning his DOE position more than a year earlier, continued to receive his DOE salary. SCI investigators spoke to the Assistant Principal for Organization ( APO ) at EBC/ENY, Sharon Santana, in November Santana told investigators that Donaldson had been reassigned to the Regional Operations Center ( ROC ) in Long Island City, in November 2003, pending the outcome of an unrelated DOE investigation 1 Donaldson s DOE employment was officially terminated on November 2, On April 28, 2006, Valerie Straughn-Kall resigned her DOE position unrelated to this investigation.

2 Hon. J. I. Klein -2- January 31, 2007 involving insubordination and misconduct. Santana further recalled that, in January 2004, she was informed by DOE Regions 4 and 5 Senior Regional Counsel Zvia Shapiro- Lerner that Donaldson had been formally served with charges and that the school should be getting him off your payroll soon. According to Santana, as of September 2004, Donaldson was removed from the EBC/ENY payroll and was, instead, being paid from a separate regional funding source. However, Santana stated that, according to the DOE s Employee Information System ( EIS ), Donaldson was still assigned to EBC/ENY and his checks continued to be sent to the school. Santana further informed investigators that, when she received her September 2005 budget allocation for the school, it indicated that Donaldson s salary was still being charged to EBC/ENY. Santana stated that she then contacted the Region 5 personnel administrators to report the discrepancy. In December 2005, SCI investigators reviewed a copy of a Post-Charge Stipulation of Settlement for John Donaldson ( Stipulation ), signed on February 23, 2004, by Donaldson, Donaldson s attorney, and Valerie Straughn-Kall. The Stipulation stated, among other things, that Donaldson would remain reassigned to a position to be determined by Region 5 until the end of the school year June 2004, and that, thereafter, he would irrevocably resign from his employment effective November The Stipulation further noted that should Donaldson fail to submit his letter of resignation, it will be deemed that he will have resigned effective November 30, A review of documents received from the New York City Office of Payroll Administration revealed that, between December 15, 2004, and October 14, 2005, John Donaldson received 21 paychecks to which he was not entitled totaling $67, Investigators initially spoke to Zvia Shapiro-Lerner in December Shapiro- Lerner was asked why Donaldson was not removed from the DOE payroll in November 2004, as provided for in the Stipulation. Shapiro-Lerner responded that Donaldson had not been removed because Valerie Straughn-Kall did not send her, or the Region, a copy of her closing memo regarding the teacher. According to Shapiro-Lerner, it was the closing memo that would have initiated Donaldson s removal from payroll. In January 2006, SCI investigators spoke to Regions 4 and 5 Personnel Director Karen Marino-Weiss. Marino-Weiss recalled that Donaldson was reassigned to the ROC, on November 10, 2003, pending the outcome of disciplinary charges. Marino-Weiss stated that OLS had assigned attorney Valerie Straughn-Kall to draft the charges and handle the case against Donaldson. Marino-Weiss informed investigators that, although Donaldson remained assigned to EBC/ENY according to the EIS, his salary was being funded through the Region s Additional Spending Authority ( ASA ) fund. Marino- Weiss further stated that on February 19, 2004, Donaldson was reassigned to the DOE facility at 110 Livingston Street, at which point, she stated, he should have been under the daily supervision of the DOE s Deputy Executive Director of the Division of Human 3 On March 3, 2006, Zvia Shapiro -Lerner resigned her DOE position unrelated to this investigation.

3 Hon. J. I. Klein -3- January 31, 2007 Resources Lawrence Becker. 4 According to Marino-Weiss, once OLS finalized its charges against Donaldson, Straughn-Kall should have provided both the ROC and Regions 4 and 5 Senior Regional Counsel Zvia Shapiro-Lerner with the closing memo and a copy of the Stipulation agreed to by both parties. Marino-Weiss stated that, although ultimately it would have been her responsibility to remove Donaldson from the DOE payroll, she never received the closing memo from OLS. SCI investigators showed Marino-Weiss a copy of Straughn-Kall s closing memo regarding the case against tenured teacher John Donaldson which, after reviewing, Marino-Weiss pointed out had been addressed to Local Instructional Superintendent ( LIS ) Janice Medina, with a copy sent to Regional Counsel Thomas Fox. 5 Marino-Weiss explained to investigators that Janice Medina had officially retired from the DOE prior to the date of the closing memo, and that Thomas Fox was the Regional Counsel for Region 3, not Regions 4 and 5. 6 Investigators spoke to Zvia Shapiro-Lerner a second time in September Shapiro-Lerner told investigators that when the initial charges were being prepared against Donaldson for insubordination, she was the facilitator between EBC/ENY and OLS. However, Shapiro-Lerner asserted that, although she was aware of the charges being brought against Donaldson in 2004, she had nothing to do with Donaldson s hearing or the Donaldson Stipulation. Shapiro-Lerner further stated that she never received a copy of the Stipulation or of the OLS closing memo regarding Donaldson s case, insisting that the first time she saw the Stipulation was at the outset of this investigation. 7 Shapiro-Lerner stated that, had she received these documents from Straughn-Kall at the proper time, she would have forwarded them to Karen Marino- Weiss who then could have removed Donaldson from the DOE payroll. SCI investigators spoke to Donaldson briefly in April Although Donaldson would not consent to a formal interview with investigators, he did state that, from 4 In July 2006, SCI investigators spoke to Lawrence Becker, who has since been named the DOE Human Resources Chief Operations Officer. After reviewing his files, Becker stated that he had not received the closing memo or the Stipulation in Becker added that, had he received the Stipulation and the memo, he would have sent copies to Karen Marino-Weiss to remind her to remove Donaldson from the payroll. Becker also volunteered that, in 2004, there was no formalized reassignment tracking unit to monitor personnel who had been reassigned pending the outcome of an investigation or hearing. For this reason, Becker stated that HRA would deserve some of the responsibility for failing to ensure the implementation of the Stipulation. Becker further stated that, in an effort to solve that problem, in 2005, the DOE created a Reassignment Staffing Unit to keep track of all reassigned DOE personnel. 5 In February 2006, SCI investigators spoke to Fox who stated that he had never heard of Donaldson nor could he recall ever receiving a memo regarding the teacher. Fox further informed investigators that, in the past, when he had received a memo which should have been sent to a different regional counsel, he had contacted both the proper regional counsel and the OLS attorney about the error. 6 Janice Medina retired from her DOE position on April 1, In April 2006, SCI investigators spoke to Mark Moskowitz who took over for Medina as the Acting LIS for Region 5, from April to July Moskowitz stated that, although some mail addressed to Medina was rerouted to him after her retirement, he had no recollection of the Stipulation or the memo regarding Donaldson. 7 On July 1, 2004, Straughn-Kall and Shapiro-Lerner had an exchange during which Straughn-Kall stated that she would fax Shapiro-Lerner a copy of the Stipulation. There was, however, no confirmation that this fax was ever sent by Straughn-Kall, or received by Shapiro-Lerner.

4 Hon. J. I. Klein -4- January 31, 2007 September through November or December 2004, he regularly reported to his temporary assignment as the Stipulation had warranted. However, in November or December 2004, according to Donaldson, his temporary assignment was moved and when he reported to the new location, a security guard would not allow him to enter. Donaldson stated that, after being denied entry to the new temporary assignment facility, he returned to EBC/ENY. However, there too, the security guard would not allow him to enter. Donaldson told investigators that, from December 2004, through October 2005, he spent nearly every day either standing in front of the school or sitting on a park bench across the street from the school. Donaldson asserted that both the school s security guard and the payroll secretary were aware of the fact that he was standing outside the school everyday. 8 Donaldson further stated that, between December 2004, and October 2005, the EBC/ENY payroll secretary would either come outside of the school to give him his paycheck or she would leave it with the security guard at the school s main entrance. 9 SCI investigators spoke to Valerie Straughn-Kall, in the presence of her attorney, in October Straughn-Kall was informed that, on April 30, 2004, she sent a copy of her closing memo regarding Donaldson to Thomas Fox, the Region 3 Counsel, rather than to Shapiro-Lerner, the Regions 4 and 5 Counsel. Straughn-Kall admitted that she had made a mistake at that time, however, she insisted that she and Shapiro-Lerner had discussed the matter prior to that time and, therefore, Shapiro-Lerner was aware of the situation. Straughn-Kall further insisted that Janice Medina, the Region 5 LIS, had signed off on numerous original versions of the Stipulation and had kept one copy for her files. According to Straughn-Kall, it was therefore Medina s responsibility to notify the Region 5 Personnel Director about Donaldson s termination. When Straughn-Kall was informed that Medina had resigned prior to the date of the closing memo, she stated that, although she had not been aware of that fact, the memo had still been sent to the Region 5 office where it should have been passed along to someone else. John Donaldson knowingly and wrongfully accepted more than $67,000 in DOE money which he deposited into his bank account for a year after his employment was terminated pursuant to a signed Stipulation. We refer this matter to the Kings County District Attorney s Office for appropriate action. In addition, it is the recommendation of this office that, regardless of the outcome of any criminal prosecution, Donaldson be placed on the ineligible list, and that this matter be considered should he apply for any position with the New York City school system in the future. Finally, a full accounting 8 Investigators spoke to School Safety Sergeant Barbara Brown in April Brown, who stated that she has been assigned to EBC/ENY since approximately April 2004, told investigators that she did recall seeing Donaldson standing outside the school on occasion, but believed that it was usually only on paydays. 9 Investigators spoke to EBC/ENY Payroll Secretary Linda Niles in April 2006, who stated that, although she did not recall Donaldson standing outside of the school, he did come to the school on paydays to pick up his check. Niles further stated that, since Donaldson usually caused havoc whenever he entered the school, she occasionally left his paycheck in an envelope with one of the School Safety Agents at the front desk.

5 Hon. J. I. Klein -5- January 31, 2007 of Donaldson s DOE payroll records should be completed and he should be required to reimburse the DOE for the approximately $67,000 that he was erroneously paid. In addition, Valerie Straughn-Kall erroneously sent copies of her closing memo and of the Stipulation to the wrong Regional Counsel and to a retired LIS. Regardless of whether they could have been discovered by other means, her carelessness in forwarding these important documents to the inappropriate DOE personnel, if nothing else, prolonged Donaldson s improper receipt of DOE funds. Although Straughn-Kall has already resigned her DOE position, this matter should be seriously considered should she ever seek employment with the DOE in the future. We are sending a copy of this letter and of our report concerning this investigation to the Office of Legal Services. In addition, we also are forwarding our findings to both the Kings County District Attorney s Office and the New York State Education Department for whatever action they may deem appropriate. Should you have any inquiries regarding the above, please contact Special Counsel Daniel Schlachet, the attorney assigned to the case. He can be reached at (212) Please notify Mr. Schlachet within thirty days of receipt of this letter of what, if any, action has been taken or is contemplated concerning this investigation. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, RICHARD J. CONDON Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District By: Regina A. Loughran First Deputy Commissioner RJC:RAL:DIS:ss c: Michael Best, Esq. Theresa Europe, Esq.