QUEENS — A group of parents from P.S. 101 in Forest Hills is fighting back against the Department of Education's decision to allow a teacher found to have abused his students to return to the classroom.
The group of about 50 parents rallied Thursday morning in front of the school to protest the reinstatement of science teacher Richard Parlini, who has taught there for more than a decade.
Parents said that they documented numerous incidents during which Parlini humiliated students or used physical force to discipline them. They said he also grabbed a student by the neck last year, but the DOE said the claim was not substantiated.
The Department of Education confirmed it investigated and substantiated several complaints "of verbal abuse and corporal punishment" against Parlini within the past three years. They added that Parlini "was reassigned away from PS101Q" last December, fined $2,500 and ordered to attended a six-hour training course before being allowed to return to teach first grade this fall.
The DOE declined to elaborate on the details of those cases. Parlini did not respond to an email seeking comment and the teachers union did not immediately return phone calls.
The parents, some of whom met Tuesday with local councilwoman Karen Koslowitz to discuss the issue, said they are furious.
“They bring the guy back without explaining it to us,” said Tom Renna, of the school's parents association.
Koslowitz said she is "standing with the parents."
Maria Kaufer, whose 9-year-old son was in a class taught by Parlini last year, said she has been unable to sleep since she learned that he would be allowed to resume teaching.
She said her child, whose name she asked not to be used, had two unpleasant encounters with the teacher.
Once, she said, after her son accidentally dropped his hat and mittens, Parlini allegedly picked them up and threw them at the boy, hitting him in the chest.
Another day the teacher allegedly yelled at the boy after a girl in his class took his seat, he said.
“He said: 'What are you doing just standing there … if someone is sitting in your seat you should say: 'Get out of my seat, you are being rude,'” the 9-year old told DNAinfo.com.
When the girl started to cry, the boy said, "[Parlini] said: 'Look what you did, you made her cry.'"
The boy said he was forced to sit at a desk away from other students. He said the teacher also told him that he had upset the entire class. “I was not happy,” the boy said.
The child was interviewed by the Department of Education, his mother said, but it was not clear whether it was one of the incidents that were among the claims substantiated by the agency.
