HARLEM--A beloved Harlem principal was yanked from her post after she had a lesbian romance with an assistant principal - then gave her a lousy review, investigators said.
Crystal Simmons, founding principal of the Academy for Social Action, turned to officials for help after her former lover, Candy Jones, threatened to murder her, the special schools investigator's office said in a report.
A department spokeswoman said Jones and Simmons - who fessed up to the forbidden dalliance with her subordinate - could lose their jobs for conduct believed to include s*x during school hours.
"In a setting where the focus is supposed to be on student learning, conduct like this is simply unacceptable," she said.
Jones' sister said the allegations were untrue.
"She's a wonderful person, and I'm not just saying that because she's my sister," said Sonja Jones, a correction officer from Queens. "No, my sister wouldn't do anything like that."
Before the disturbing report was released, dozens of students rallied in support of Simmons.
"Her main mission is college for everybody. We want her back," said Kirsis Betances, 16, a 10th-grader, of the Bronx. "She showed she cared for everyone. ...I told my daddy I'm leaving the school if she's not there, and my daddy agrees with me."
Added 10th-grader Destiny Tyler, 16, "She wasn't a principal who sat behind a desk."
Simmons and Jones differ on how long they dated - either a summer or two years. Jones said they had a falling out after she went on vacation with another woman.
After the split, Simmons started keeping a log about Jones' performance, gave her an unsatisfactory rating and started the process to remove her from her post, the report said. Simmons said Jones' work ethic had declined.
Jones then told staffer Chante Alexander that she would kill Simmons if she was fired, saying "it was easy to purchase a gun down south" and that her father "had already purchased one," the report reads.
Jones insisted she was only "kidding" about killing Simmons and was comparing her situation to an article involving a female correction officer who gunned down her lover.
Simmons filed a complaint with the NYPD's 26th Precinct, but the case was closed because no cops witnessed the harassment, the report said.
Attempts to reach the two were unsuccessful.
Students were stunned by the racy allegations. A 17-year-old senior who described the principal as "a second mother" said she was "shocked" to learn of the s*x scandal.
"I don't really know what to say. My God, I don't know what to think," she said.
The case was referred to the Manhattan district attorney's office. A spokeswoman for the office declined to comment.
Jones was assigned to the High School for Law Enforcement and Public Safety in Queens, the report says. She did not have tenure as an assistant principal and is working as a teacher, officials said.
Simmons will begin working as an assistant principal elsewhere on Monday while awaiting the outcome of a disciplinary process, said officials, who declined to reveal her current school. She did not have tenure as a principal.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Sunday, November 14th 2010 at 4:13PM
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