They told The Post that a middle school instructor ordered bilingual educators hired from the Dominican Republic to work for the local Department of Education to be silent about the high expense of the rooms they were obliged to rent or be expelled from the program.
According to the Dominican recruits, Rosse Mary Savery, a teacher at MS 80 in the Bronx under Principal Emmanuel Polanco, cautioned them not to tell anybody that they must pay between $1,350 and $1,450 per month for a single room in apartments where they share a kitchen and bathroom with coworkers.
“She instructed us not to discuss the rent with anyone,” This was the most important thing she said: ‘Don’t speak to anyone. “Don’t tell anyone how much you’re paying,’” Savery was quoted as saying by a teacher.
Currently, 19 Dominican teachers reside in the Bronx in three rooming homes operated by the Association of Dominican American Supervisors and Administrators, a fraternal organization comprised of DOE principals and other personnel.
According to The Post, ADASA housed eleven Dominican teachers in a two-family home it leased on Baychester Avenue and three in a Marion Avenue co-op owned by Polanco’s mother, Juana Polanco-Abreu, according to city records.
According to a witness who attended Polanco-funeral, Abreu’s she passed away several years ago. Officials of the city were unable to explain why she is still listed as the property owner.
Each Marion Avenue tenant pays Polanco and his wife, Sterling Báez, a 32-year-old DOE elementary school teacher in the Bronx, between $1,350 and $1,400 a month.
In the Bronx, a duplex on Pillow Avenue is home to five additional teachers and one of their spouses.
Each person pays between $1,350 and $1,450 per month for a private room while sharing a kitchen and bathroom. According to insiders, they utilize the financial app Zelle to pay their rent to ADASA treasurer and DOE administrator Daniel Calcao.
After their requests for rent receipts went unanswered, the teachers addressed an email to Calcao, Polanco, and Savery requesting a meeting to discuss their cost concerns.
A teacher recalled that in reaction, Savery labeled the request “a threat” that could threaten the students’ US visas and their ability to bring their family to New York.
According to a teacher, Savery stated, “If you don’t want to be in trouble with your family coming here, you must respond to that email and say you won’t be attending the meeting.”
This month, the DOE removed Polanco, the first vice president of ADASA, from MS 80 in response to the escalating scandal surrounding the Dominican teaching program. Three members of ADASA’s executive board, Polanco, Calcao, and Jay Fernandez, fired the organization’s president, Socorro Diaz, last week.
The Post got a letter from Diaz to ADASA members in which he stated, “I have spent a great deal in this organization and I adored its original mission statement.”
According to sources, Diaz’s dismissal was an act of vengeance because she helped two instructors connect with authorities after they complained to her in early October about being compelled to live in ADASA housing and pay high rent.
Diaz’s actions were justified, according to a DOE official. Diaz declined to comment.
Late in October, a teacher who informed Savery she was seeking less expensive living arrangements received a letter from Marianne Mason, executive director of the Cordell Hull Foundation for International Education, a New York-based organization that provides visas for teachers. According to sources, the letter claimed that her visa had been revoked and that she had two days to leave the United States.
The educator conferred with attorneys, who determined that Cordell Hull lacked the right to cancel her visa. However, she lost her position at a Bronx school after Savery spoke with the principal.
A friend of the instructor stated, “Without conducting an investigation, the principal spoke to her and told her, ‘You must leave the school because Savery informed me that your presence is illegal,’”
As authorities began to investigate charges that ADASA bullied the newcomers and maybe benefitted from the rents, the same instructor received a letter from Cordell Hull this month stating her she could return to her position without explanation.
Savery, one of the Dominican teachers’ primary contacts, allegedly “disappeared” after the investigation began.
Savery did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.
Polanco, Fernandez and Calcaño also did not answer to messages.
Mason has attributed the instructors’ complaints to “cultural shock” and “miscommunication,” telling The Post, “They’re lying.”
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