'No more white principals on my watch': Staten Island schools superintendent says racist texts are fake
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK: The Staten Island school superintendent, a Black woman, has come under the officials' radar for allegedly sending a string of anti-White texts in which she threatened to fire all White principals. Screenshots of the purported exchange show Marion Wilson allegedly pledging to "clean up this island" and declaring, "No more white principals on my watch!" She has denied she sent those texts.
Screenshots of the alleged conversation were sent through the encrypted email address Mikeboy70@protonmail.com to Chancellor David Banks, the Department of Education (DOE), and city authorities, according to the New York Post. The DOE, however, has called the said screeshots "fake" as they continue their inquiry.
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'No more white principals on my watch!'
Among the screenshots, another of the texts Wilson allegedly sent, read, "I need to clean up this island," while yet another added, "White folks need to recognize this is not the boys club anymore. A strong black woman runs this b***h now, and they can either get on board or get out. If they don't get out, I'm going to take them out one by one. They're not gonna know what hit them. Gonna be fun."
A third text read, "Chris's white a** is G-O-N-E, It's happening." This may be a reference to Christopher Anzalone, a former executive director of District 31 who was appointed executive director of school support and operations for District 23 in Brooklyn.
'She'll keep the white folks off my back'
"I agreed to take CL … She'll keep the white folks off my back," another text read, said to be alluding to Christine Loughlin, whom Chancellor Banks removed as superintendent of Manhattan's District 3. Loughlin, who is White, is currently District 31's executive director of school support and operations, per the Daily Mail.
One of the texts mentioned Christopher Anzalone, a former executive director of District 31 who was appointed executive director of school support and operations for District 23 in Brooklyn, per the New York Post. The text reads, "'LOL Mele and Cugini better play nice. They're first up on the chopping block."
The Special Commissioner for Investigation (SCI) of New York City initially looked into the texts, but in October 2022, they were sent back to the DOE for further action. At that time, the Department of Education's Office of Equal Opportunity began its own investigation (OEO). According to a DOE representative, the SCI is currently investigating the texts' provenance.
About Wilson's work
Wilson's work has been praised by the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), which declared its support for her. According to a parent who spoke with the outlet, Wilson's campaign to hire more BIPOC individuals, Black, indigenous and people of color, to work in Staten Island schools coincided with the appearance of the screenshots of the purported communications, per the Daily Mail.
In August 2021, Wilson, who had previously worked for the city DOE, was named superintendent of District 31. She had previously held positions as a district deputy superintendent, principal, leadership facilitator, instructional coach and teacher before being appointed. In June 2022, Wilson received a second term as superintendent of District 31, as reported by Slive.