Six Department of Education employees used “forged permission slips” to take their own kids and grandchildren to Disney World and on other city-funded trips meant for homeless students, investigators alleged.
The secret perks robbed some of the city’s most disadvantaged kids of a chance to enjoy the Magic Kingdom — a trip that cost $66,000 for 50 or so adults and kids, a staffer said — and other multiple-day trips in 2016 to 2019 to Washington, D.C; New Orleans; Boston; upstate Rocking Horse Ranch Resort; and Frost Valley YMCA campground, according to a newly released report by the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools.
Linda M. Wilson, a Queens supervisor of DOE’s “Students in Temporary Housing,” took her own two daughters on trips, and encouraged colleagues to take their sons, daughters and grandkids, but tried to cover up the shady practice when SCI started asking questions, the SCI report said.
“What happens here stays with us,” Wilson allegedly told co-workers.
“She said everyone should stick to the same story that we did not take our children on the trip,” an employee told The Post.
“She told us to lie to the investigators.”
While some homeless students attended the trips, the staffers’ kids took up valuable spots.
One DOE educator “had to beg Wilson to allow him to add two of his students” on a trip to Disney World while Wilson and several staffers she supervised brought family members, the SCI said.
“Taking money meant for homeless students is extremely inappropriate,” said Naveed Hasan, a Manhattan public-school parent and member of the city’s Panel for Educational Policy who advocates for students in need of housing. “I’m shocked.”
Family members are not allowed on field trips, even if the DOE is reimbursed for their expenses, Chancellor’s rules state.
Wilson and other staffers used the names of homeless students to fabricate permission slips, then forged parent signatures on the paperwork, witnesses told investigators.
“Few of the homeless students listed on the paperwork actually attended the trips,” a whistleblower told the SCI.
At first, Wilson used a DOE contractor to book transportation, hotels, food and activities.
The city paid for the trips with a $300,000 federal grant from the National Center for Homeless Education meant to give kids enrichment and incentives to improve their attendance or academics.
Wilson supervised about 20 staffers who worked with students in temporary housing, defined as those living in a shelter, car, park or abandoned building.
Last year, a record 119,320 NYC students—roughly one in nine kids enrolled in public schools—experienced homelessness, according to Advocates for Children of New York.
Most out-of-town trips included four to six staff members as chaperones, and one or two buses for about 30 kids each, the SCI report says.
The buses alone cost about $2,700 each per trip, a staffer said. Those who went to Disney took the train.
Wilson would decide which staff members could attend a trip, assign students to each staff member to chaperone, then replace spots assigned for those students with staff members’ kids, the SCI said.
Wilson planned trips to colleges, including Washington D.C.’s Howard University in 2019, purportedly so homeless kids could tour campuses.
But she didn’t contact the colleges to arrange visits, the SCI alleges.
On a three-day trip purportedly to see Syracuse University in June 2018, the DOE group only ate lunch on the upstate campus, the report says. Then they left for Niagara Falls, more than three hours away.
After planning numerous trips, Wilson abruptly canceled a visit to Philadelphia in 2018 when she was required to process the payments for trips directly through the DOE, instead of going through a contractor.
Wilson, whose last salary was $99,726, brought one or two of her daughters on trips, the SCI said.
Other staffers accused of bringing family members are Mishawn Jack, who took two daughters; Shaquieta Boyd, who took a daughter; Virgen Ramos, who took two granddaughters; Maria Sylvester, who took two daughters, and Joanne Castro, who took two sons.
Boyd was fired, but blamed Wilson: “The supervisor in charge not only gave me permission, she encouraged it, and I had no reason to believe that this was against the rules.”
After completing its probe in January 2023, the SCI recommended Chancellor David Banks terminate all six employees and require them to pay restitution, with the amounts to be determined by the DOE.
The DOE also fired attendance teacher Mishawn Jack on Sept. 5, 2023, records show.
In a settlement last month with the city Conflicts of Interest Board, Jack admitted using slots intended for homeless kids to take her two daughters to see the Broadway show “Wicked” and on a trip to Washington, D.C. in 2016 — excursions she was hired to chaperone.
Jack agreed to pay a $1,200 fine, which the COIB slashed from $3,000, the approximate cost of the trips, due to the “financial hardship” of losing her job.
She also blamed taking the perks on Wilson, saying she “told staff they could bring family members,” according to the COIB settlement.
Reached this week, Wilson flatly denied that her daughters attended trips and that she allowed staff to bring their own children. She insisted that DOE’s “checks and balances” would have prevented such abuses, and called the SCI probe “a witch hunt.”
Wilson, 63, said she wasn’t terminated, but retired from the DOE.
The DOE would not say whether anyone was disciplined or paid restitution. “All staff identified in this report are no longer employed by New York City Public Schools,” said spokeswoman Jenna Lyle.
The SCI decided not to refer the cases for criminal prosecution, citing “the lack of available documentation,” a spokesperson said.
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