Metro

Teacher allegedly called out cheerleaders who ‘showed a lot of vagina’

​She saw something — and said something.

​Veteran dance teacher Karen Eubanks was appalled when cheerleaders at the High School for Environmental Studies in ​​​Manhattan bared their bottoms during a school performance.

​Eubanks​ ​raised objections when some of the 30 girls, ​in extremely ​short ​cheerleading ​skirts, ​wore panties underneath that were too skimpy​ or ​ill-fitted​ ​and sh​ow​ed “some of their genitals,” butts and even pubic hair.

She spotted eight to 10 boys in the gym audience videotaping the show.

​Instead of commending Eubanks for promoting modesty and decency, the Department of Education brought her up on ​misconduct ​charges — including verbal abuse — and tried to fire her.

The investigation and often-absurd eight-day trial that followed cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

​Eubanks, 59, a city teacher for ​two decades​ and former educator with the New York City Ballet, was ​​accused of saying the girls ​“showed a lot of vagina” ​or “flashes of vagina​,” ​ and using ​the words “g-string​,” “burlesque moment” and “nasty” within​ ​earshot of students, thus embarrassing or belittling them in violation of chancellor’s rules.

“It’s shocking that I was accused of wrongdoing after advocating for the dignity of our students,” Eubanks told The Post.

​The ​flap erupted in April 2016 when Eubanks​, who was substituting a​t​ the Hell’s Kitchen school, ​​ attended an after-​hours spring concert​​, which included a dance ​performance by the cheerleaders.

Besides students and staff, the audience included parents.

​As part of their routine​, the ​cheerleaders executed a “fan kick.” They sat on the floor facing the audience, leaned on their left hips and raised their right legs high in the air, waving them like a fan across their faces and bodies.

Eubanks testified she saw some​ girls wore “what looked like panties” that didn’t stay in place, ​​“riding up” ​to expos​e their ​​genitals​ to the audience​​, she said.

​Darius Williams, a DOE contractor and former dancer and choreographer with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, also attended the concert. He backed Eubanks’ account, calling the display “vulgar.”

He also saw boys filming ​it​.​

But Principal Amber Najmi-Shadid, who brought her 10-year-old chil​d, testified she “did not see any ‘vaginas’ showing,” and insisted, “Everything was appropriate.”

​Afterwards, Eubanks said she praised the ​girls for a “wonderful” ​performance​, but told a few​​ of them: “You know that fan kick? Did you guys ever think about turning it upstage, or to the side, or on a diagonal? . . . I’m a bit concerned because your crotches were facing the audience.” She denied ​saying words like “nasty” or “burlesque” ​to the girls.

The cheerleading coach, Nicola Brugueras, said Eubanks pulled her aside on a stairwell the next day to discuss the dance.

Brugueras said Eubanks was “confrontational” and used the words “crotch shot” and “nasty.”

Brugueras called a meeting with the cheerleaders to address the issue. ​In a chat room, one girl ​angrily ​mentioned “some f–king dumb ass lady talking s–t about our choreography, saying its burlesque and how she saw vaginas.”

“Yea. She think she some high and mighty bitch,” another texted.

​The DOE held a trial, which also included charges that Eubanks arrived late for ​​a class​​​ at her former school, Gramercy Arts HS, ​​when the hall bell was broken and filmed​ students in the mistaken belief ​the school had already obtained parent permission​.​

The proceeding​ last fall​​ ​ generated a 974-page transcript and a dense 42-page ruling in January by Doyle Pryor, a hearing officer who gets $1,400 a day plus expenses to conduct testimony and write rulings.

Termination cases typically cost some $300,000 in investigative ​efforts, lawyer fees and other staff time.

Pryor concluded that Eubanks was too harsh and should have used​ gentler words like “private part​s​.” But he found she “acted out of concern” for both the cheerleaders and their coach.

​He ordered that she receive a letter of reprimand.

​Eubanks, who makes $93,790 a year, is now teaching at ​nearby ​Facing History HS​.