NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Medical Director Dr. Brooke Balchan filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday alleging that senior school officials sidelined her as New Rochelle became the national epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
The complaint says Dr. Balchan was “excluded from meetings; assigned new roles without discussion or additional compensation; given last minute directives; had her medical judgment dismissed or ignored; experienced humiliation in front of others and intimidation by District legal counsel, with threats of insubordination; and her medical leave request was mismanaged. All together these events created a generally hostile and extremely stressful working environment.”
Dr. Balchan persevered and positioned the District for a safe reopening, including but not limited to all COVID-19 related protocols, disease surveillance, contact tracking and reporting, staff training, and on-site COVID-19 testing. Dr. Balchan’s work-related stress increased, triggering a documented medical condition, and she heeded the advice of her own medical team to take a temporary medical leave in late December 2020. When Dr. Balchan exercised her rights under FMLA for protected leave time, the District interfered by failing to provide notification of her rights under FMLA, failing to provide written notification of whether her request for leave qualified under FMLA, and failing to reinstate Dr. Balchan to her position once cleared by her own physician and a physician designated by the District.
The complaint says “leadership played politics over public safety”.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the City of New Rochelle in early March 2020, as the first epicenter of community spread in New York. Dr. Balchan blew the whistle multiple times internally to her superiors and externally to governmental authorities. After she started raising questions about Superintendent Feijoo’s failure to heed public health advice, Dr. Balchan became marginalized by the District’s leadership and legal team.
Governor Andrew Cuomo created the country’s first “containment zone”, sent the New York National Guard to the City of New Rochelle and ordered closed schools and house of worship within one mile of the Young Israel of New Rochelle temple after dozens of members contracted the coronavirus. Three public schools in New Rochelle were closed — New Rochelle High School, Albert Leonard Middle School, and William B. Ward Elementary School — as well as The Ursuline School and three schools in neighboring Tuckahoe — the William E. Cottle School, Tuckahoe Middle School and Tuckahoe High School.
The lawsuit has implications for the Denver Public Schools which announced they had selected outgoing Interim Superintendent Dr. Alex Marrero to lead DPS. Although Marrero was introduced at a press conference in Denver on Wednesday, a contract has not been negotiated. The DPS Board is scheduled to vote on Marrero’s yet-to-be finalized contract at their next meeting on June 3.
The lawsuit names Marrero, the City School District of New Rochelle, former Superintendent Dr. Laura Feijóo, former New Rochelle Board of Education President Amy Moselhi, along with other school district officials.
The Denver Post is reporting that DPS Board member Tay Anderson said Friday he was “unfamiliar with the lawsuit or any other possible complaints against Marrero, but was interested to learn more.”
Denver Public Schools Board of Education President Carrie Olson and Vice President Jennifer Bacon issued a statement expressing “full confidence” in Marrero.
“The complaint was filed against New Rochelle district leadership and not Dr. Marrero alone. We have reviewed the information contained in the complaint that involves Dr. Marrero, and we have been in contact with New Rochelle School District about the matter. We have full confidence in Dr. Marrero, and we stand behind our choice for superintendent.”
The City School District of New Rochelle issued a statement Friday evening saying it had not seen the lawsuit:
The District has been made aware of a lawsuit that has been filed but not yet served upon the District by Dr. Brooke Balchan.
Once served the District will review the allegations with counsel and thereafter determine whether any further public comment regarding the lawsuit is necessary or legally appropriate.
The District categorically denies any current or former District employees have been silenced or retaliated against, in any manner, in connection with the District’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The District takes great pride in the manner in which its leadership team has handled all aspects of this unprecedented crisis. Any assertion that District representatives have acted in an unlawful manner in responding to the pandemic is simply false.
Balchan v City School District of New Rochelle (7:21-cv-04798)
Complaint
Dr. Balchan alleges in her complaint that because she raised matters of a public concern regarding health and safety while serving as the Medical Director of New Rochelle Schools she was subject to maltreatment and retaliatory actions. Further, she was denied her rights under the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
Plaintiff
Dr. Balchan began her employment with the District on or about July 18, 2017, as the Medical Director for the District.
Defendants
- City School District of New Rochelle.
- Dr. Laura Feijóo, former Superintendent of Schools from November 1, 2019 through October 6, 2020.
- Dr. Alex Marrero, Interim Superintendent of Schools since October 2020; originally hired as the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction in January 2020, named acting Superintendent in September 2020.
- Peter Scordo, Deputy Superintendent of Schools, has held three newly created positions since his hiring in July 2019; his current appointment started in September 2020. Prior to that, he was appointed as Human Resources Executive Assistant to the Superintendent in July 20.
- Ana Reluzco, Executive Administrator for Human Resources and Pupil Personnel Services, designated by the Board of Education as one of two District Human Rights Coordinators for the 2020-21 school year.; Reluzco has held three newly created positions since her hiring in August 2019. Her current appointment started in July 2020. Prior to that, she was appointed as Deputy Assistant to the Human Resources Executive Assistant to the Superintendent in August 2019, and then to a newly created Civil Service title of Director of Human Resources in September 2019.
- Amy Mosehli, member of the Board of Education since 2018, serving as Vice President during the 2018-19 school year and President during the 2019-20 school year.
- Ryan Reed, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources employed by the District since June 2020 and designated by the Board of Education as the District’s Affirmative Action Officer and one of two Human Rights Coordinators and for the 2020-21 school year.
Three Claims for Relief (Against All Defendants)
1. Retaliation Against Plaintiff for Exercising Freedom of Speech in Violation of Plaintiff’s First Amendment Rights
Defendants violated Plaintiff’s First Amendment rights by retaliating against her for exercising her freedom of speech as a citizen with regard to matters of public concern, specifically, inter alia, regarding reporting the following: (a) Dr. Feijóo’s failure to acknowledge that schools were not safe at the start of the COVID-19; delaying the closure of schools until after reporting her actions as unethical to the New York State Department of Health and Governor’s Office; (b) Dr. Feijóo’s failure to notify families of students who were exposed to her when she was symptomatic with COVID-19 infection, despite being notified that her actions could be construed as child abuse in an educational setting, subsequently reported to the New Rochelle Police Department; (c) Dr. Marrero’s failure to abide by Governor Cuomo’s COVID-19 vaccine eligibility schedule by creating an accelerated pathway for staff to obtain vaccines at Montefiore Hospital in early January 2021, which was reported to Westchester County Department of Health and New York State Department of Health.
The District also has denied Plaintiff additional compensation for extended working hours and responsibilities expected of her due to COVID-19.
Plaintiff also was not invited to attend the COVID-19 Town Hall meetings held in February 2021; instead the school community was told Interim Medical Director, Louis Corsaro was a co-facilitator of the events and as a co-signer of COVID-19 related updates.
2. Retaliation in Violation of New York State Civil Service Law § 75-B
Plaintiff reported improper governmental actions including violations of federal and state law by the school administration, thereby engaged in a protected activity as defined in New York Civil Service Law.
Defendants retaliated against Plaintiff by engaging in adverse “personnel actions” against her as defined by New York Civil Service Law.
3. FMLA Interference and Retaliation
Defendants interfered with Plaintiff’s FMLA rights and has been retaliated against by the District for filing a US Department of Labor complaint in March 2021 against the District citing FMLA violations.
Statement of Facts
1. First Amendment Protected Speech: Whistleblower Retaliation During COVID-19 Pandemic
Dr. Balchan recommended school closure in the New Rochelle epicenter, but was silenced
Dr. Balchan believes had Superintendent Feijóo and the District leadership team heeded her
recommendation to close schools one week earlier, the number of cases and deaths in New Rochelle may have been significantly lower.
Early on in the pandemic response, Dr. Balchan recommended the closing of New Rochelle Schools which Dr. Feijóo opposed. As Dr. Balchan attempted to raise the alarm, Dr. Feijóo ordered her own Medical Director not to respond to any inquiries from school staff or community members regarding coronavirus.
On March 8, 2020, Dr. Feijoo emailed Dr. Balchan, her cabinet, and District counsel instructing them not to discuss Dr. Balchan’s recommendation about closing schools with anyone.
Two days later the Governor ordered three New Rochelle schools closed and by the end of the week all schools were closed.
As the expanding COVID-19 cluster in New Rochelle overwhelmed county health officials, the complaint says Dr. Feijóo refused to meet Dr. Balchan or consider updating the District’s COVID-19 response.
Balchan’s complaint, filed under oath in a Federal lawsuit, provides a detailed timeline:
Dr. Balchan sent an email at 3:16 am on March 7, 2020, to Superintendent Feijóo and her cabinet members, urging them to make a plan to close schools because the COVID-19 situation in New Rochelle was “evolving rapidly.”
Later in the day on March 7, 2020, Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency due to rising cases of coronavirus in New York City and Westchester.
On Sunday morning, March 8, 2020, Superintendent Feijóo emailed Dr. Balchan, her cabinet, and District counsel, Gus Mountanos, stating “I know it goes without saying and all of you know this but no one is to discuss Dr. Balchan’s recommendation about closing schools with anyone.”
Later in the day on March 8, 2020, Superintendent Feijóo called Dr. Balchan on her personal cell phone in a very threatening manner, the complaint alleges. While on the phone, Superintendent Feijóo demanded that Dr. Balchan read the email out loud that she had just sent to Dr. Balchan. This encounter was witnessed by Dr. Balchan’s husband, Mr. Romel Balchan. Superintendent Feijóo then questioned Dr. Balchan about whether she had shared her suggestion about closing schools with anyone in the community. Dr. Balchan responded by explaining to Superintendent Feijóo that she had spoken to many people that weekend, as a community member, because she believed schools should close while waiting for further directives from the state. Of those individuals, Dr. Balchan communicated with a few physician colleagues and her City Councilwoman, Yadira Ramos-Herbert.
Despite Dr. Balchan explaining that she had spoken to community members about her concerns, Superintendent Feijóo sent a contradictory follow-up email later that same day, after the conversation with Dr. Balchan, stating, “I am confirming that you told me that you did not discuss your recommendation to close schools with anyone in the community.”
The next day, on Monday, March 9, 2020, Superintendent Feijóo sent an email at 11:13 am, directing Dr. Balchan “to refrain from responding to any inquiries from any staff members and/or members of the community, including parents regarding any and all coronavirus issues.”
Dr. Balchan replied at 11:35 am, stating, “As this is a health crisis, I request being briefed prior to the distribution of district-wide communications to our community.”
Superintendent Feijóo and BOE President, Amy Mosehli, held a press conference stating they were not in favor of closing schools and declared, “It’s clean in school. We are sure that they’re safe and taken care of.”
On the same day, New York State Department of Health Commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker, and the Centers for Disease Control were recommending prolonged closure of New Rochelle’s schools because no one could be sure that it was safe.
At approximately 5 p.m. on March 9, 2020, Dr. Balchan approached and met in person with Peter Scordo and Ana Reluzco from Human Resources. Dr. Balchan informed them that Superintendent Feijóo had not spoken to her at all that day and as a result she was feeling terrified that her medical license was being compromised due to the false information being communicated by the District, in the media and through email, about the safety of students and staff. Dr. Balchan told them that she felt that Superintendent Feijóo was endangering the school community by silencing her. Mr. Scordo advised Dr. Balchan that he would address her concerns with Superintendent Feijóo.
Dr. Balchan felt her concerns could not wait until the morning and sent an email to Superintendent Feijóo at 7:58 pm on Monday, March 9, 2020. Dr. Balchan wrote that her “job and responsibilities clearly obligate me [Dr. Balchan] to respond to the inquiries regarding the health and well being of our staff and students.”
At 10:32 pm, Superintendent Feijóo invited Dr. Balchan via email to attend an in-person Superintendent’s Cabinet meeting the following morning.
On Tuesday morning, March 10, 2020, at approximately 9:30 am, Dr. Balchan provided a briefing, from a public health perspective, due to the rising numbers of coronavirus cases in New Rochelle. Dr. Balchan informed Superintendent Feijoo and her cabinet that, as Superintendent, Dr. Feijóo had the authority to intervene before the situation worsened and people died. Dr. Balchan explained that the schools were not equipped to protect students and staff. Dr. Balchan stated “Representing 11,000 students here, I feel a moral and ethical obligation to be a spokesperson for our community.”
Just before noon on March 10, 2020, Governor Cuomo declared a 1-mile containment zone in New Rochelle requiring the closure of only 3 out of the 10 schools in the District, effective Wednesday, March 11, 2020.
Superintendent Feijóo spoke to Governor Cuomo’s office after the cabinet meeting and did not relay any of Dr. Balchan’s concerns. Superintendent Feijoo then emailed the school community about the limited closure stating, “We thank the Governor’s office for their partnership. After speaking with his staff, it is clear to us that they understand the complexity of our district and our advocacy to stay open. We trust that continued dialogue with the Governor’s office will help position New Rochelle and our 11,000 students well.”
Between March 10 and March 11, 2020, Dr. Balchan sent numerous emails to Superintendent Feijóo, her cabinet members, and Gus Mountanos, District counsel, urging them to close schools throughout the District.
On March 11, 2020, Dr. Balchan tried to get her message across to the Governor and her community using other channels. At 1:30 am, on March 11, 2020, Dr. Balchan called the NYSDOH Provider number and selected the option to report a risk to public health and safety. She spoke to an agent from Homeland Security who connected her to the state epidemiologist on-call, pleading for help to close schools in New Rochelle.
Before reporting to work on March 11, 2020, Dr. Balchan also posted a public comment on a Facebook group, Moms of New Rochelle, stating, “As a mom, a physician, neighbor and friend – I have kept my kids home all week. #NewRoStrong.”
Dr. Balchan attended another in person meeting with Superintendent Feijoo’s cabinet on March 11, 2020, at which they reviewed all of the students and staff with known COVID-19 symptoms from each building that remained open. A diagnosis of lab-confirmed COVID-19 was rare at that time. Dr. Balchan emphasized that people were unable to get tested because “the capacity is not there” and that “everybody in New Rochelle is running rampant and everybody is cross-contaminating everybody throughout the whole District.”
Despite learning about the presence of symptomatic individuals throughout New Rochelle, including students and staff from each building who were unable to get tested for COVID-19, Superintendent Feijoo nonetheless kept the remaining seven schools open.
Superintendent Feijóo then proceeded to visit the homes of 45 students, hand-delivering chromebooks with Ms. Mosehli (then BOE president) and Dr. Marrero (then Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction), in an attempt to look good in an article written in the New York Times.
After work on March 11, 2020, Dr. Balchan communicated with members of the teachers’ union and the administrators’ association at an in-person impromptu meeting in her office about potentially speaking to the press about the unsafe conditions in the District’s schools, such as lack of alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Instead of speaking to the press, the District union leadership connected Dr. Balchan with New York State United Teachers leadership in Albany, in an effort to relay their joint health and safety concerns to Governor Cuomo’s office.
On the morning of March 12, 2020, Dr. Balchan called Mr. Joseph Glazer, Deputy Commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health about the concerning number of symptomatic individuals throughout the District unable to get tested, and the difficulty she faced keeping track of them all.
Glazer had been seconded to the Westchester County Department of Health to help with pandemic response.
The call was made with Superintendent Feijóo, on her cell phone, with Assistant Superintendent Bongo, and Ms. Reluzco present.
Dr. Balchan followed up the call with an email to Mr. Glazer with a list of twenty-four people being tracked for COVID-like symptoms or exposure. Eighteen symptomatic individuals were at schools that Superintendent Feijóo allowed to remain open.
Later in the day, on March 12, 2020, at approximately 1:30 pm, Dr. Balchan received a joint call from three attorneys from Governor Cuomo’s Office (Judy Mogul, Licha Myiendo, and Richard Zahnleuter), regarding concerns about “the accuracy of information being conveyed to the state” by Superintendent Feijóo. Dr. Balchan shared that her voice had been silenced by Superintendent Feijóo and that it was her medical opinion that the spread of COVID-19 in New Rochelle was likely much worse than reported, due to the limited availability of testing and increasing numbers of symptomatic individuals from all school buildings. The state attorneys indicated that they would report Dr. Balchan’s account of the situation in New Rochelle directly to Governor Cuomo and Dr. Zucker.
Within two hours of this conversation, Superintendent Feijóo drafted and sent an email to the school community sharing that it was her decision to close the entire District for two weeks. The District’s closures preceded Governor Cuomo’s March 16, 2020, Executive Order which mandated the closure of all schools statewide commencing March 18, 2020.
Dr. Balchan was thereafter excluded from all meetings with Superintendent Feijóo and her Cabinet to discuss any of the District’s COVID- 19 responses for several months, until on or about June 1, 2020.
By March 27, 2020, two weeks following the closure of all schools in the District, Dr. Balchan and her team of school tracking nurses reported a total of 106 symptomatic staff, including 6 who had tested positive for COVID-19.
By May 1, 2020, when cases were slowing throughout the region, Dr. Balchan’s team tallied a total of 231 staff members who had been tracked for COVID-19 related reasons, with 32 testing positive, and 2 staff members who died. Through outreach to families in the District, the school nurses recorded approximately 100 cases of COVID-19 directly impacting students, including the hospitalization or death of a family member. Dr. Balchan believes that this number does not accurately reflect the true loss for the New Rochelle school community because in June, at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, over 3,000 people in New Rochelle had contracted COVID-19. Had Superintendent Feijóo and the District leadership team heeded Dr. Balchan’s recommendation to close schools one week earlier, the number of cases and deaths may have been significantly lower.
Failure by Superintendent Feijóo to notify all contacts potentially exposed to COVID-19 when in contact with her after she tested positive for COVID-19
Mr. Glazer notified Dr. Balchan that Dr. Harold Coles, Superintendent of Southern Westchester BOCES, observed Superintendent Feijóo to be symptomatic two days before Feijóo claimed she first became symptomatic, causing Feijóo to become irate and accusatory. When Feijóo refused to change the date of when she became symptomatic to include the day she, along with Dr. Alex Marrero and Amy Moselhi, personally distributed Chromebooks to student’s homes as a publicity stunt, Dr. Balchan filed a complaint of child abuse against Dr. Feijóo with the New Rochelle Police Department.
On Saturday, March 21, 2020, Superintendent Feijoo publicly announced that she tested positive for COVID-19. Superintendent Feijóo did not follow District protocol when she became symptomatic or upon receipt of her positive test result.
Superintendent Feijóo reported publicly that she developed symptoms on March 12, 2020, the day she visited several schools and stayed late at City Hall. Dr. Balchan was not informed that Superintendent Feijóo became ill that day, or that she went for COVID-19 testing, and Superintendent Feijóo did not report her results directly to Dr. Balchan or the nursing staff before making a public statement about her illness on March 21, 2020.
Dr. Balchan and her nursing staff were completely left out of the contact tracing process to determine who needed to quarantine following their exposure to Superintendent Feijóo during her illness.
The list of known contacts that Superintendent Feijóo eventually provided to Dr. Balchan was not all inclusive. Specifically, Dr. Balchan’s name was not on the list, despite being in a meeting with Superintendent Feijóo in her office on the morning of March 12, 2020. Two staffers at City Hall, a secretary and an administrator, both notified Dr. Balchan that they became symptomatic for COVID- 19 after exposure to Superintendent Feijóo on March 12, 2020; however, neither were identified or in receipt of a quarantine notice from Superintendent Feijoo.
On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Mr. Glazer called Dr. Balchan from the offices of the Westchester County Department of Health with information about Superintendent Feijoo’s illness. The Health Insurance Portability and Privacy Act Privacy Rule permits covered entities to disclose protected health information without authorization for specified public health purposes. As such, Mr. Glazer reported that Dr. Harold Coles, Superintendent of Southern Westchester BOCES, observed Superintendent Feijoo to be symptomatic at a press conference on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
Dr. Balchan immediately informed Superintendent Feijóo via email, so she could address the discrepancy and notify potential contacts from those two days, including the students from the home delivery chromebook distribution on March 11, 2020.
Superintendent Feijóo’s response to Mr. Glazer was:
Your desire to determine when I became symptomatic is recognized and rejected. It is absurd for you to feel like you can determine when I felt symptoms. How can a medical professional believe the interpretation of a third party over that of the patient themselves? This email and its contents are unacceptable and inappropriate. I became symptomatic on March 12. This is not a convenient date for me, it is the accurate date…I have NO intention of changing my date of symptoms as it speaks to my character and integrity in a City of 80,000. Dr. Balchan has no authority to speak to you about my medical conditions on my behalf, and you have no authority to assume you know when my symptoms started. Please let me know if the information I was provided by Dr. Balchan is inaccurate in any way to mischaracterize your involvement in this mess. Furthermore, please confirm that you recognize my symptoms started on March 12, 2020 and that this entire system is based on integrity and self-reporting. Please note that I have copied District counsel and the BOE President.
Dr. Balchan was alarmed by Superintendent Feijóo’s response and first reported her concerns as a formal complaint to both Mr. Scordo and Ms. Reluzco of Human Resources in an email as follows:
Since the outset of the COVID-19 crisis, she [Superintendent Feijóo] has been deceiving the public and disregarding my best medical judgments and recommendations on how to protect our school community. With today’s report that she clearly had visible symptoms two days prior to the date she publicly announced, her credibility continues to be questionable. Dr. Feijóo continues to provide our staff, her colleagues, students and families with misinformation that is potentially harmful to their health. It is my duty to report this to you.
The next day, on March 23, 2020, Dr. Balchan reported Superintendent Feijóo’s failure to notify families of their potential exposure to COVID-19 first to the Board of Education members and District counsel, and then as suspected negligence to the local New Rochelle Police Department. School officials are obligated to notify their local police department of any cases of possible child abuse in an educational setting, in this specific case “intentionally or recklessly engaging in conduct which creates a substantial risk of such physical injury, serious physical injury or death.”
Lieutenant Wentzler took the verbal report from Dr. Balchan regarding Superintendent Feijoo’s refusal to send notices to the families of those students which she hand-delivered chromebooks to the day after she was noted to be symptomatic with COVID-19. Dr. Balchan received a return call from the NRPD informing her that they would not investigate the circumstances any further.
Medical research at the time encouraged, and current CDC and NYSDOH guidance now requires, notification of all contacts who were exposed to COVID-19 positive individuals, including the two days prior to symptom onset.
Mr. Scordo sent Dr. Balchan an email on March 23, 2020 indicating that he investigated the situation with Superintendent Feijoo regarding notification of additional contacts. He wrote that Dr. Feijoo was actively pursuing an answer from the health department and that no disclosure was required unless they received further guidance.
Dr. Balchan directed her nursing staff to contact the families of those potentially exposed. The nursing staff included the 45 students in their daily outreach wellness checks to students from their respective schools. Dr. Balchan was informed that two of the identified students reported symptoms.
District disregarded Dr. Balchan’s recommendation to provide guidance to “Essential workers” on clearance to return to work
On April 10, 2020, Dr. Balchan addressed an email to Mr. Scordo and Ms. Reluzco of Human Resources, asking them to share the COVID-19 Return to Work Protocol with staff since Dr. Balchan was unable to distribute it without approval. The District disregarded Dr. Balchan’s request and withheld the protocol from staff.
New assignments, misrepresentation, lack of communication, disrespect
This section, while interesting, is mostly an “inside baseball” account of Dr. Balchan’s perception that she was both being marginalized and set up to take the fall in the event of a failed school re-opening in the Fall of 2020. Balchan was presented in a public email as member of the Superintendent’s cabinet when announcing the “Reopening Committee” chairs and, later, she was named the District’s “COVID Compliance Officer” [COVID-19 Safety Coordinator] with no actual authority.
Vote of No-Confidence in Superintendent Feijoo’s leadership
On September 1, 2020, the Union Executive Board of the City School District of New Rochelle Administrator and Supervisory Association submitted a letter to the New Rochelle BOE expressing a unanimous vote by the members expressing their lack of confidence in Superintendent Feijoo’s leadership or her ability to safely reopen schools for in-person instruction.
The letter specifically states, “A lack of clear direction, transparency, collaboration, and appropriate timelines have been major concerns by A&S members, since the first week of March 2020. These concerns have continued, to date [September 1, 2020].”
District Counsel intimidates Dr. Balchan from reporting her concerns about leadership
This section covers a harassment complaint against Ms. Reluzco; aggressive, bullying behavior by Mr. Gus Mountanos, District counsel and retaliation against Dr. Balchan.
District not ready to reopen
As students began to return to in-person learning within the District in September, 2020, Dr. Balchan was concerned that the District had not yet created an executable plan to meet the state requirement for the periodic screening of students for COVID-19 with a health questionnaire.
Dr. Balchan made a recommendation for a platform that would not only streamline the review of students’ health screenings, but also would aid in the tracking of COVID-19 illnesses and quarantines more efficiently.
Dr. Marrero chose a different platform. Dr. Balchan not consulted on the choice of the platform which would not be accessible until October 13, 2020, less than a week before more students were expected to return to in-person learning.
Increasing workload with limited supports
Dr. Balchan was not provided adequate support, and projects continued to be assigned to her by District leadership at the last minute. This had overtime implications for Dr. Balchan’s staff.
Workplace interference after Dr. Bongo retires
As Governor Cuomo was preparing to declare that a section of New Rochelle was entering a COVID-19 precautionary yellow zone, necessitating certain testing requirements for the four schools in those areas to remain open for in-person learning. A collective decision was made during a November 18, 2020 of Dr. Balchan, Interim Superintendent Marrero, his cabinet, public relations team, and BOE President Rachel Relkin and BOE Vice President William Iannuzzi to close all ten schools in the District for a two week period.
The next day, Dr. Marrero changed the school closure plan and announced via robocall and email that certain Special Education programs would continue to operate in-person during the yellow-zone designation period.
This section describes the confusion that followed especially as regards Ms. Reluzco and deterioration in Dr. Balchan’s physical health due to stress.
Accelerated timeline for on-site testing without planning and support in place
Interim Superintendent Marrero abruptly canceled a holiday pause schedule at the December 1, 2030 meeting of the school board which necessitated the creation of an on-site COVID-19 testing program.
During the discussion portion of the BOE meeting, Dr. Balchan received several insults from Board member, Ms. Mosehli, when providing her medical assessment regarding COVID-19. The A/S bargaining unit reviewed the video and determined Ms. Moselhi’s comments were disparaging.
After publicly stating at the board meeting it would difficult to create on-site COVID-19 testing program, Dr. Marrero claimed other Districts “just pulled it off”, without any written procedures in place. Dr. Balchan insisted that it was best practice to create written protocols and procedures before launching a clinical program in the school setting.
On December 16, 2020, Dr. Balchan and her team executed the District’s first on-site COVID-19 testing program with no recognition or acknowledgement.
Unfounded investigation meeting related to staff notification on December 4-5, 2020
Ms. Reluzco disputed Dr. Balchan’s recommendations on the need for City Hall staff needed to quarantine, after a staff member from the City Hall administration building was sent home sick and was going for COVID-19 testing on December 5.
Ms. Reluzco played a key role pursuing an investigation into Dr. Balchan’s job performance and felt confident in her own allegations that she began interfering in other ways, such as destabilizing Dr. Balchan’s health services.
On December 15, 2020, Dr. Balchan was not invited to participate in the BOE meeting to announce the debut of the on-site COVID-19 testing program she worked so hard to create.
During the meeting, Interim Superintendent Marrero wasted a COVID-19 test kit from an unknown source. Despite knowing the test kits were in limited supply and only being allocated to school buildings designated by Governor Cuomo, he demonstrated swabbing his own nose, and then he discarded the sample before reading the result during the live virtual meeting.
On December 17, 2020, Dr. Balchan became so overwhelmed with fear and anxiety that she notified her supervisor, Dr. Manning-Campbell, that she was not feeling well and took the afternoon off as sick time.
Dr. Balchan remained in contact with her supervisor over the next week and provided a doctor’s note because she remained unwell and unable to return to her toxic work environment to continue her duties. Furthermore, Dr. Balchan felt that her employment rights were being threatened and sought private legal counsel.
Illegal vaccine program
In January 2021, after Mayor Noam Bramson arranged an illegal vaccination program for City and School District employees, Dr. Marrero directed CSDNR employees to lie to hospital staff and not notify the New York State Department of Health that they were getting shots in order to receive the Moderna vaccine at Montefiore Hospital New Rochelle at a time when teachers and school administrators were not eligible to receive the vaccine.
On January 7, 2021, Dr. Balchan received a community-wide email at 12:34 pm from Interim Superintendent Marrero in her personal account, as a parent of students in the District. The email detailed a plan to transport school staff from each building by bus to Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital between January 8, 2020 and January 15, 2020, to receive the Moderna vaccination for COVID-19. Dr. Balchan, as a private citizen, was concerned about the legality of this plan because non-medical school staff had not yet been prioritized by Governor Cuomo to receive the vaccine. Concerned about the legal and financial penalties for both the District and the hospital, for failure to comply with the Governor’s orders, Dr. Balchan contacted Dr. Sherilita Amler, Health Commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Health. Dr. Balchan also made calls to inquire about the program through the NYSDOH Coronavirus hotline and a physician colleague working at Montefiore New Rochelle. She confirmed that the only school staff that were eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, as of January 7, 2020, were medical staff (school nurses, doctors, clinic staff) and direct service providers, such as physical, occupational and speech therapists.
A few hours later, the COVID-19 immunization program at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital was shut down by the state. At 9:04 pm on January 7, 2021, Interim Superintendent Marrero emailed the school community about the cancellation of the scheduled staff vaccinations.
Several news outlets covered the story and Montefiore New Rochelle was penalized with a monetary fine and the loss of its COVID-19 vaccination program. (Talk of the Sound) ran a story with the headline, New Rochelle School Medical Director Not Consulted on Board of Ed’s Illegal Vaccine Plan.
2. FMLA Interference and Retaliation Violations
The District stated it intended to deny or dispute Dr. Balchan’s FMLA request, would be sending her for a 913 evaluation, and was going to report Dr. Balchan to the medical licensing board because of serious concerns about her performance. Education Law section 913 states that the board of education of any school district “shall be empowered to require any person employed by the board of education…to submit to a medical examination in order to determine the physical or mental capacity of such person to perform his or her duties.”
The New Rochelle Board of Education approved resolution 21-217-17, “that pursuant to Education Law 913, the employee discussed in executive session is directed to report for a medical examination in order to determine the mental/physical capacity of such person to perform his/her duties.” She was later determined to be fit for duty.
RELATED:
Bramson Now “Regrets” Jumping the Line to Get COVID-19 Vaccine, Says He Was Setting an Example
New Rochelle School Medical Director Not Consulted on Board of Ed’s Illegal Vaccine Plan
New Rochelle School & City Workers Begin COVID-19 Vaccinations at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital
What Went Wrong with Moderna Vaccine Distribution for New Rochelle Teachers, Staff?
EDITOR’S NOTE: the original version of this story stated Dr. Balchan was the former Medical Director for the City School District of New Rochelle. She is still the Medical Director for the school district . She is still on payroll but “administratively reassigned”.
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