For Immediate Release

Bronx teacher barricades himself in classroom

Apr 24, 2009 6:31 PM

On April 24, the UFT chapter leader at the New Millennium Business Academy in the Bronx barricaded himself inside a room and refused to leave until he had a chance to air certain school-related grievances with UFT President Randi Weingarten and the news media. Authorities evacuated the school and police sent a hostage negotiation team in to work with staff from the Bronx UFT office to talk the chapter leader into surrendering to police, which he did after several hours.

President Weingarten, who was in Washington at the time, stayed on the phone with police until the situation was resolved and then immediately flew back to New York to answer reporters’ questions about the incident. Journalists asked her about a graphic Web site the teacher allegedly maintained, but she noted that it was the first time that she or other UFT staff had heard of it.

President Weingarten issued the following statement:

As I said earlier today in our press conference concerning the teacher who barricaded himself inside the New Millennium Business Academy in the Bronx, there is no priority more important than the safety of New York City public school children and staff, and we at the United Federation of Teachers will move Heaven and earth to keep them safe. We are grateful that the situation was resolved peacefully, and we thank the police and the city for working closely with us to defuse what was a potentially dangerous situation.

Prior to the press conference, we had not known about the Web site allegedly operated by the teacher. The content on the site is entirely inappropriate for children or educators. Teachers must remember there is no zone of privacy when someone publishes in this manner and attaches one’s name to it.