A former Bronx principal resigned after investigators found that he improperly changed student grades, The Post has learned.
Richard Massel altered the transcripts of five students at the Monroe Academy for Visual Arts & Design just after he left the school to serve as Bronx academic-policy manager, according to a Special Commissioner of Investigation report.
Hoping to better their graduation prospects, Massel had some students make up missing PE credits by having them wander near school grounds while taking cellphone pics to prove they were out breaking a sweat.
A whistleblower alerted authorities to check for transcript changes. Investigators found that Massel made the alterations just after leaving the school to serve in DOE administration, according to the SCI report.
“Massel should have conferred with the current Monroe Academy administration before making any grade change but did not do so,” the report states.
Students told investigators that Massel hosted weekend PE makeup sessions — without a PE teacher present.
“Massel said that there was no gym instructor assigned; the students showed up and, in the gym, did anything they wanted to earn points,” agents said. “Massel was paid for a per-session activity for working as the building supervisor on Saturday.”
Massel admitted that attendance was “very loose” and that he didn’t have any documentation to prove that the sessions actually took place.
One female student told investigators that “Massel directed the students to walk around the neighborhood and take cellphone photos of places like a supermarket, train station, or a park,” the report states. “Student C had to show Massel the photos to prove that she had been walking.”
In another instance, Massel was unable to tell SCI probers why he boosted another student’s online health course grade by 10 points.
Reached at his Upper West Side apartment, Massel declined to comment.
“Mr. Massel has left the DOE, and is not eligible for future employment in our schools,” DOE spokeswoman Devora Kaye.
Massel was previously in hot water for confiscating the shoe of a female student after she propped her feet up on the desk of a teacher and using his key to a vending machine to lock the shoe inside.