US News

LAST ‘DITCH’ BID

The board of directors at an embattled Bronx charter high school said yesterday it would launch an investigation into the school and that the principal would no longer oversee instruction, after students walked out to protest an exodus of the teaching staff.

Of the eight full-time teachers on staff when International Leadership opened in September for about 80 ninth-graders, just one remains.

Four were fired and three others threw in the towel last week, about a month before the June Regents exams.

The school slipped further into chaos yesterday when students demonstrated outside the building on Exterior Street, prompting threats of disciplinary action by Principal Elaine Ruiz Lopez and parents to pull their children out of class for the day.

Students described setting off emergency alarms when they marched out the back door after Lopez had the front door locked before they could leave.

“I tried to walk out and the principal said, ‘If you leave, you’ll be discharged,’ and I won’t be allowed back in the school,” said Melanie Rodriguez, 15. “I’m just upset. I just want a proper education.”

A statement issued by the school’s board of directors cast the situation as a power struggle between disgruntled teachers looking to “politicize their own personal grievances” by “disturb[ing] the student body and confus[ing] parents.”

At the same time, the board said it takes allegations of mismanagement seriously and that it is in the process of hiring an independent firm to probe the matter.

The statement added that the board would work with the city Department of Education, which authorized the charter for the school, to assess “our operations and instructional program” and make necessary corrections.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said he was concerned about the situation and that his office was working on a “plan of correction.” While the city does not have direct control over charter schools, it can suspend or revoke a charter.

A spokesman for the school acknowledged that there has almost been a 100 percent teacher turnover since the start of the academic year, but said the school is fully staffed.

He added that the board is looking to bring in an outside manager to oversee instruction for Principal Lopez.

Lopez has told The Post that she sets strict standards for her teachers and has no tolerance for those who don’t live up to her expectations.

But parents said they are running out of patience with the conditions at the school and claim Lopez has refused to answer their questions.

“We need to be told what’s going on with our kids,” said parent Frances Fulgencio at the school yesterday. “They have a bunch of substitute teachers in there. My son hasn’t had homework in a week. It’s a situation none of us understand.”

david.andreatta@nypost.com