Dozens of New York City educators have been accused of having inappropriate, often sexual relationships and communications with students, with some requesting nude snaps or plying them with money, gifts or drugs, newly released records show.
Thirty-two more cases of educators and other school staffers engaged in improper communications with kids were substantiated by the city’s Special Commissioner of Investigation — boosting the total to at least 121 cases from 2018 to 2024, up from 89 tallied in May, according to reports released to The Post.
Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman has recommended 54 times from 2019 to 2023 that the city Department of Education prohibit all employees from contacting students using personal cell phone numbers, social media accounts, or other apps.
The DOE repeatedly rejected the recommendation but told The Post it may finally tighten the rules.
Among allegations in the newly revealed cases:
Daniel Matuk allegedly began communicating with one of his 15-year-old graphic design students at William Cullen Bryant HS in Queens in 2020, exchanging over 700 messages between 2022 and 2023, investigators found. Matuk texted about her “brown ass” and “little butt,” and called her “b—h” and “whore.” Matuk would force the junior to hug him in his empty classroom. “I blocked Daniel Matuk’s number after graduation, but have been living with trauma because of what had happened,” she told investigators. SCI said he was “grooming” her. He collected $112,191 in FY 2024.
- Anthony Schiliro, a history teacher at the elite Eleanor Roosevelt HS in Manhattan, sent “excessive” late-night texts to three female students, investigators found. On one occasion, he joked about one student having sex in front of the other two.
- Jorge Luna, a social studies teacher at the Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics, repeatedly texted and called a female student starting when she was a freshman, and made inappropriate comments on her Instagram even after being disciplined for his communications with her. In 2020, Luna called the girl on FaceTime at midnight to wish her a happy birthday, according to SCI. In 2022, he commented on her breasts, and her “sexy” legs in a photo and wrote, “you should have opened” them, the girl told investigators. Luna collected $111,738 in 2023-24.
- Steven Perez, a social studies teacher at Fort Hamilton HS in Brooklyn, texted one of his students about his “girlfriend problems” and child support, calling her “sweety” and “beautiful” from when she was 15, investigators found. He’d give her cigarettes and oil for vaping, and once tried to kiss her after driving her home. He was arrested in December 2021, but the Brooklyn DA declined to prosecute.
- Ellen Huynh, a teacher at the Civic Leadership Academy in Queens, exchanged more than 9,000 texts with a male student between 2022 and 2023, including hundreds after 9 pm and on weekends. Witnesses, including teachers, told investigators they saw the two hugging alone in a classroom with the door shut, and in a park together. The student refused to tell investigators about their conversations but said “there was no sex.” She collected $80,701 in 2023-24.
Those employees did not respond to inquiries from The Post. They have all either resigned or been terminated, the DOE said.
Other educators denounced the alleged misconduct.
“There’s no reason to be calling or texting a student on a personal device unless it’s something you don’t want said on a DOE computer or email address,” an NYC high school teacher told The Post.
The teacher used her own phone to contact students during the COVID-19 pandemic and has done so occasionally to call students she believed were in crisis.
But the practice has been “so grossly abused” that she supports the SCI’s recommendation of a ban.
“Most schools have communications policies prohibiting private communications at this point because they recognize the risks,” said Dr. Elizabeth Jeglic, a John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor who researches child sexual abuse and grooming. “I am not sure why this is not being done in New York City.”
The Post previously reported on many cases of predatory educators, including Townsend Harris HS coach and teacher Joseph Canzoneri, who SCI found exchanged flirty messages with female students and had sex with one.
Natalie Black, a teacher at Hillside Arts and Letters Academy, allegedly sent raunchy photos and videos of herself to a 17-year-old; and Scott Biski, a music teacher at Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences High School, who investigators say exchanged hundreds of texts with a student he sexually abused.
The DOE’s social media policy says employees “should not communicate with students currently enrolled in DOE schools on personal social media sites,” except in an emergency, and then a supervisor should be notified as soon as possible.
The DOE has no prohibition on staffers using personal phones or email addresses.
Officials have insisted that stricter rules are not needed because a disciplinary process is in place to punish misconduct.
“Our educators are trusted individuals in the lives of our students, and every teacher is always expected to behave appropriately,” said DOE spokeswoman Jenna Lyle.
But officials told The Post they are reviewing the DOE’s social-media rules, and “an updated policy is in development.”
