US News

SCHOOL-COP CLASS STRUGGLE

A fracas at a Manhattan high school has deepened a simmering rift between principals and school safety officers.

Tuesday’s incident at East Side Community HS occurred when Principal Mark Federman tried to prevent two safety agents from parading 17-year-old Isamar Gonzales – who had allegedly hit a guard – out the front door in handcuffs.

At issue is when a school incident escalates from a disciplinary issue to a crime – and who gets to make that call.

“It should not be that the school safety agent decides whether it’s a crime or not,” said Ernest Logan, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators. “It should be mediation, not criminality. These are children . . . everyone, it seems, is going to have a criminal record the way we’re doing things.”

But at a coincidentally scheduled City Council hearing on school safety yesterday, NYPD and Department of Education officials disagreed with Logan.

“The principal is the CEO when it comes to matters of education and discipline,” said Assistant Police Chief James Secreto. “But when it comes to crime and safety, that’s the NYPD’s call.”

Gonzales was arrested Tuesday for allegedly assaulting school safety officer Nadine Penniston.

Federman was arrested following his struggle to prevent school safety agents from leading Gonzales out the front door.

Additional reporting by Julia Dahl

yoav.gonen@nypost.com