Former Assistant Principal Penalized for Missing Work to Go to Second Job

A former assistant principal at a Brooklyn public school was penalized for leaving work early or not showing up on 32 occasions while she worked a second job, the city's Conflicts of Interest Board announced on Wednesday.

The former assistant principal, Maizelin Knowlin of Public School 276, had been in the news in 2010 when the Department of Education said in a report that she lived in New Jersey but enrolled her children in New York City schools by giving a false Brooklyn address.

At P.S. 276 in Canarsie, Ms. Knowlin's workday ended at 3:20. But during the 2006-7 school year, she also worked as a program coordinator at the Flatbush Y.M.C.A., according to an settlement agreement she reached with the conflicts board. Eighteen times, Ms. Knowlin began working at the Y program at 3 p.m., the settlement says. On 14 other occasions, Ms. Knowlin was paid for working at an education department after-school program when she was actually working at the Y, the settlement said.

Ms. Knowlin was fired in March 2011 for the workday violations. The conflicts board fined her $2,500, but forgave the fine after she showed proof of financial hardship; she was still unemployed as of last month. She stated in her settlement that she had “significant outstanding debts, and would not be able to make any monthly payment to the board as a penalty for the violations cited above and still be able to pay for other basic living expenses.”

In other actions against city education workers on Wednesday, the board announced that it had fined a former Education Department human resources director, Vivian Nero, $4,000 for misusing her position to get her two adult children jobs at city schools. The program that Ms. Nero works for is called Children First.

Knowlin Ruling (PDF)

Knowlin Ruling (Text)