New Rochelle BOE Investigating Internal Response to West End Shooting, Sources

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The cone of silence placed over the school district by the New Rochelle Board of Education on a major communications failure speaks volumes about the official response to the death of a high school student after he was allegedly shot by another high school student and raises serious doubts about the personal integrity of those enforcing that silence.

A student is dead. Another student is charged with murder. A third is now refusing to return to school. Yet, the priority for school officials is familiar: circle the wagons to protect their own.

In the hours after the fatal shooting of Julian Oliveros in front of 81 Fourth Street on January 25, all hell broke loose over at 515 North Avenue and 265 Clove Road, sources say.

At the Central Office, located in City Hall at 515 North Avenue, erroneous information on the enrollment status of what they believed to be a former student somehow made its way into the lede paragraph of the only official statement issued by the City School District of New Rochelle on the day of the West End Shooting. That erroneous statement has never been acknowledged, updated or corrected.

Moments later, the New Rochelle High School administration, sent an accurate statement on the enrollment status of what they described as a current student.

When this reporter immediately requested urgent clarification of the two conflicting statements — issued 14 minutes apart — on the enrollment status of Julian Oliveros, school officials ignored that request.

Internally, however, the finger pointing had already begun.

The mendacious conduct by school officials in 2022 is similar to what took place in 2018 following the murder of Valaree Schwab when school officials falsely claimed the incident had nothing to do with the high school (the Westchester County District Attorney said it began there), that Schwab was not in school that day (the DA said she was) and that the de facto Open Campus policy that allowed students to join in the stalking and stabbing of Schwab had been in place long before the then-current administration was hired (it began two years earlier, in 2016, on their watch).

It is an effort to distance the school district from violence involving students.

Sources say there is an internal investigation within the District into how and why false information was put into a press statement.

No one is willing to address the confusion or investigation on the record. Superintendent Raymond did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation.

There are competing claims among school officials as to what happened with eSchool System records which appears to be at the heart of the confusion. Until those claims are sorted out by the investigation, we are withholding the information we have been provided.

The District central office statement described Oliveros as “a young person who previously attended New Rochelle High School”. The New Rochelle High School statement described Oliveros as “one of New Rochelle High School’s enrolled students.

The public confusion began when New Rochelle Schools Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond made remarks at the New Rochelle Board of Education meeting at Trinity Elementary School at about 7:25 pm on January 25, 2022.

Late this afternoon, we had a shooting in our community that involved it appears to be, you know, you know, two of our high school students enrolled but hadn’t been in school in some time, again, it’s still under investigation. We don’t know all of the details, but one of those students, one of those students has passed away. So our hearts go out to this community. I know the details will be emerging. But I think I think in some ways it pales to comparison to what happened earlier earlier today. Again, I understand and there’s there is no comparison when involves a loss of life. And our teams are have mobilized there’ll be they’ll be supporting our students at our schools and we’ll be doing everything we can to ensure that we have the resources and supports that are possible, you know, to you know, to move past this. I think it puts a great emphasis on our ability to really understand to ensure that our students, you know, whether they’re enrolled that they are in school, that they’re in enriching and supportive programs, and they’re earning credits towards, you know, college and careers and moving forward. You know, it’s enough and we and we need to figure it out and we need to, we need to come together and to work together, all all of us for a better future for our children in this community. Thank you.

Raymond’s statement presages the confusion to follow: “two of our high school students enrolled but hadn’t been in school in some time”. He is the first to incept the thought that Rivera and Oliveros, while technically students were not really students. Regardless of how irregular their overall attendance record, by most accounts both students were in school on the day of the shooting.

After waiting for more than 5 hours from the shooting and two hours after Raymond’s remarks to the school board. this reporter sent an email at 9:17 pm seeking a formal written statement:

From: Robert Cox (Talk of the Sound)

Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2022 9:17 PM

To: Stu Shinske (Focus Media), Jonathon Raymond (CSDNR Superintendent) and Julia Muggia-Ochs (NRBOE President)

Subject: Statement on shooting?

I have to figure you are working on this but as NRPD put out their statement I need to ask when we can expect your statement?

BTW, can Monica provide her contact info.

Thanks

Robert Cox

914-325-4616

TALK OF THE SOUND

Publisher and Managing Editor

Talk of the Sound

Stuart Shinske, Vice President, Media and Government Relations, for Focus Media replied with a statement at 10:03 pm:

Good evening and thank you for reaching out. 

Please attribute this statement to the City School District of New Rochelle. Thank you again.

The City School District of New Rochelle learned Tuesday evening that a young person who previously attended New Rochelle High Schoolwas involved in an incident in the community that resulted in the student’s death. Our hearts and deep condolences go out to the student’s family and friends, and we join in collectively mourning this tragic loss of such a young life. We understand that there may be a range of feelings and emotions as a result of this situation. To help support our high school community, our school district has mobilized a team of clinicians who will offer comfort and counseling in a supportive setting. We send our condolences to the young person’s loved ones and thank our community for respecting the importance of privacy during this difficult time. 

New Rochelle High School Principal Dr. Dagberto Artiles sent a statement at 10:17 pm to households of New Rochelle High School students:

Dear New Rochelle High School Students/Families,

It is with a heavy heart that we share the heartbreaking news that one of New Rochelle High School’s enrolled students was involved in an incident in the community that resulted in his death. We offer our deep condolences to the young man’s family and friends.

We also recognize that such a tragic event can be shocking, and staff are here to support you in any way. We are mobilizing resources and support programs that will be available at our high school tomorrow. The clinical team is being assembled and a plan will be available for staff and students upon entry to the building in the morning. School district clinicians will be available in Room 207 starting at 8a.m. The district crisis team will also be on hand to assess, comfort and support as needed.

Together, we will get through this difficult time.

NRHS administration

Both statements were reportedly approved for release by the Superintendent.

At 10:17 pm, this reporter emailed Jonathon Raymond, Julia Muggia-Ochs and Dagberto Artiles with the subject line: Was the victim a NRHS student or not?

Attached were screenshots of both statements, with the conflicting information on the enrollment status of Julian Oliveros circled in red.

Despite repeated requests for clarification, we have not, to this day, received an answer to that question.

On January 28, the District Public Information Office inexplicably cited FERPA in what appears to have been a deliberately obtuse reply to our inquiries seeking clarification of the two official but contradictory statements.

Good morning. Thank you for your inquiry. 

Student attendance records are part of their educational records and are governed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which precludes their disclosure to anyone other than a parent or guardian. 

Thank you. Ok

Superintendent Raymonds already disclosed the attendance records of Tommy Rivera and Julian Oliveros at a public meeting on January 25. His phrase “hadn’t been in school in some time” is a statement on the attendance records of Tommy Rivera and Julian Oliveros.

Regardless of the truth of Raymond’s statement or whether or not it was deliberately misleading, given that Raymond already made a statement concerning the attendance records for Tommy Rivera and Julian Oliveros, the cat is out of the bag and running down the street. To then cite FERPA three days later as the legal justification for not correcting a false statement about the attendance records for Tommy Rivera and Julian Oliveros is wanting to eat your cake and have it too.

On February 8, at a Town Hall meeting held at Christopher Columbus Elementary School, New Rochelle Schools Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond rowed back the false January 25 statement by stating unequivocally that Julian Oliveros and Tommy Rivera were students at New Rochelle High School at the time of the shooting.

Given the administration’s claim on January 25 that Julian Oliveros was not a student at the time of his death, there was no reason to issue a statement at all.

The District has a formal written policy in the event of the death of a student which includes: the building Principal is notified of the death and informs the Superintendent’s Office and the School Health Office; the Superintendent’s Office informs the appropriate administrators; the District Public Information Office is notified and handles all inquiries from the media; a plan to communicate the news of the death to faculty and students is developed; the deceased students name is removed (“deactivated”) from all district databases to insure that no routine correspondence arrives at the deceased student’s home such as report cards, graduation information, notices and so on.

The School Health Office has not been fully staffed for two years, which may have played a part in some of the confusion with the District’s response to the death of Julian Oliveros.

Medical Director Dr. Brooke Balchan has been paid to stay home since the latter half of 2020 as a result of a dispute with former Superintendent Dr. Laura Feijóo and former New Rochelle Board of Education President Amy Moselhi over the District’s response in the early days of COVID-19 in March 2020. Balchan is suing the District. The acting Medical Director, Dr. Louis Casaro, works at 12 school districts so is only occasionally in New Rochelle.

The student data management system used by the District is eSchool System. Access to the eSchool System database are time-stamped and marked in a log file with the initials of the user account accessing the system. Who did what in eSchools is readily available to an investigator.

By policy, any sensitive public statements such as those involving the death of a student are reviewed by the Public Information Office, their outside Media Relations firm, the District’s outside counsel, and senior administration officials the approved by the Superintendent before public release. School Board leadership is typically brought into the loop as well.

Was that policy followed during this incident?

School policy applies only to the death of a student — not a former student.

Why was a statement drafted at all for a person central office believed was not a student?

The central office statement not only contradicts the statement issued by the high school but the statement is contradictory within itself.

Why was the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) dispatched to “support our high school community” in response to the death of a person who was not a student?

Despite the contradictory information about the enrollment status of Julian Oliveros, and the dispatch of the CIT, both statements were issued less than 15 minutes apart. This reporter challenged the conflicting statements within minutes of their release and never received an answer.

Why, regardless of the cause of the error, has no one at central office ever responded to clarify the contradictions in the two statements once they were pointed out by this reporter.

More to follow.