The Brooklyn high school janitor who caught two female language teachers in a state of conjugating bliss first thought the hot and heavy pair were students — and that’s why he alerted school officials, sources told The Post yesterday.
While the rest of James Madison HS was in the auditorium cheering on students as they performed in the annual “Sing” competition the night of Nov. 20, French teacher Cindy Mauro, 33, and Spanish teacher Alini Brito, 29, were brushing up on each other’s foreign tongues, sources said.
The two instructors were undressed in a classroom by the time janitor Robert Colantuoni inadvertently walked in on the action, sources said.
Assuming they were students, he called for assistant principal Jodie Cohen, who brought an end to the affair at the Midwood school.
Cohen declined to comment yesterday.
Both teachers were suspended, and will be temporarily reassigned to a “rubber room” in Brooklyn to await their fate.
Mauro, who lives in Bay Ridge with two other women, recently went punk, dying her hair pink, getting several new tattoos, and wearing tight, low-cut clothing, neighbors said.
“She would have parties until 3 a.m. with mostly female guests,” one neighbor said. “There would be people coming in at all hours making noise.”
Students of the two teachers said they were shocked by the news, but had noticed a change in Mauro’s behavior recently.
“She was flirty with the guys,” one senior said. “She would act like she was a teen.”
Mauro had zero tolerance for off-color comments about homosexuality, students said.
“You know how kids are. If someone would say, ‘You’re so gay,’ she would be, like, ‘Don’t do that, it’s not funny,’ ” said senior Marteine Colon, 17.
She once warned students: “You might be offending me or you might be offending someone in my family.”
When Mauro left home yesterday with two female friends, she refused to comment.
Brito, who is married and lives in Ozone Park, Queens, is also one of the school’s deans.
“She’s not the kind of lady who would do that,” one senior said. “She’s the dean, too. Any other teacher, but not Ms. Brito.”
“I still can’t believe it,” Melissa, 17, added. “If a boy came on to her, she would get nasty.”
Additional reporting by Yoav Gonen and Amber Sutherland