The principal of a Brooklyn elementary school excluded students from a Valentine’s Day party because they didn’t wear pajamas, teachers and parents told The Post.
Machael Spencer Edwards, principal of PS 202, personally checked children to decide if their attire merited admission to the Feb. 12 “Valentine’s Pajama Jam,” a three-hour bash in the gym featuring a deejay, dancing, juice and cupcakes.
“No pajamas, no party,” staffers quoted Edwards as insisting.
The East New York school sent a flyer home two days before the Friday party for third- to fifth-graders. “Dress up in your favorite PJs!” it read, but did not say pajamas were mandatory. It also cited a $2 “donation.”
On Friday morning, Edwards announced on the loudspeaker that students attending the party after lunch must have their pajamas on, staffers said. In the cafeteria, Edwards looked kids up and down, saying which pajamas passed muster — and which did not. Several third-graders were seen crying.
One of many excluded fifth-graders took $2 from his allowance but didn’t know PJs were required. He called his parents, who had a day off, and his dad brought him basketball shorts, which the boy sleeps in.
“I changed in the bathroom, and I got in line,” the 10-year-old told The Post. “But the principal told me I can’t come. He said, ‘That’s not pajamas, go back to the lunch room.’”
His mother is upset. “He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was a good student. Why exclude them based on something they have on?”
Another mom said her son brought $2 but didn’t feel comfortable wearing pajamas to school. He and several classmates were barred from the party, which she called unfair.
‘Maybe their pajamas have holes or are too small. You don’t know if they’re poor or sleep in underwear and a T-shirt.’
- one student's mom
“Maybe their pajamas have holes or are too small,” she said. “You don’t know if they’re poor or sleep in underwear and a T-shirt.”
At PS 202, 91 percent of the 547 students come from low-income homes.
“It’s not exactly Dix Hills, [LI,] where everybody has $2,” a teacher said. “Let’s be real, Kids don’t even come to school with pencils.”
Teachers gave cash to cover kids who did not bring $2.
Reached by phone, Edwards would not discuss the party, saying, “I have to get clearance.”
A Department of Education spokesman said, “All students were included regardless of whether they wore pajamas.”
School staffers called the statement a “bald-faced lie,” saying they believe Edwards misled DOE officials.
Last June, the DOE removed a Queens principal after The Post reported she barred kids from a school carnival if they didn’t pay $10.
The DOE told principals that children may not be excluded from fund-raising events during school hours: “All student activities during the school day must be open to all students.”