The administration of New York City Mayor Eric Adams has recently been the subject of multiple federal investigations, a situation that has brought intense scrutiny to City Hall. The investigations have led to a series of events that have unfolded rapidly, capturing the attention of both the public and the media.
Now there is one more to add to that growing list. Recent reports have surfaced regarding a serious misuse of city funds allocated for the enrichment of homeless students in New York City. Linda Wilson, a regional manager for the NYC Department of Education’s Queens Students in Temporary Housing, is among six Department of Education employees accused of taking their own families on city-funded excursions, including trips to Disney World, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Boston, Rocking Horse Ranch Resort in upstate New York and Frost Valley YMCA campground between 2016 and 2019. Those trips were intended for homeless students.
While some students were brought on these trips, investigators alleged that spots were taken up by the employees’ family members. DOE rules state that employees cannot bring family on trips even if the DOE is reimbursed.
Wilson allegedly bypassed the rules by “forging permission slips in the names of students,” the report said. The understanding was that the students would visit colleges, instead, Wilson chose other destinations. While the DOE has strict rules against the inclusion of family members on field trips, Wilson fabricated information to disguise the participation of her family members.
On one such trip in June 2018, Wilson allegedly went with students to visit Syracuse University. But the university said that Wilson never toured the school. The subsequent investigation alleged that Wilson instead took a detour to Niagara Falls.
In 2018, Wilson’s deception almost came to light, as she learned that someone had revealed her actions to other staff in the DOE. At that point she canceled a visit to Philadelphia. She then allegedly told her colleagues, “What happens here stays with us.”
The other workers implicated in the charges have blamed Wilson for telling staff that they could bring family on these trips, with one employee telling the NY Post that Wilson instructed them “to lie to investigators.”
“She said everyone should stick to the same story that we did not take our children on the trip,” the employee said.
The other Students in Temporary Housing workers accused of bringing family members on these trips include Program Manager Shaquieta Boyd, Family Assistant Joanne Castro, Family Assistant Mishawn Jack, Family Assistant Virgen Ramos and Community Coordinator Maria Sylvester.
The SCI completed its probe in January 2023 and recommended to Chancellor David Banks that all six employees be terminated and pay restitution to the DOE.
The cases were not referred for criminal prosecution due to “the lack of available documentation,” an SCI spokesperson told the newspaper.
