Mouse droppings coat the surfaces, desks and computers. Trash cans lie overturned in classrooms. The floors are littered with thousands of spat out sunflower-seed shells.
MS 344, the Academy of Collaborative Education in Harlem, is New York’s worst-performing middle school. It is also known as the school from hell.
And the pupils are the worst part. They assault teachers, destroy the facilities and steal from each other in the halls. They are out of control.
Since last year the Department of Education has twice tried, and failed, to shut the school down.
One teacher found a used condom in her purse.
She told the New York Post: ‘It was literally war. I was pushed, shoved, scratched, thrown against the wall, spit on and pick-pocketed. I just wanted peace.’
MS 344 has been branded by the state a ‘persistently dangerous’ schools.
Last year just two of 88 eighth-graders passed the state’s exams for maths or reading.
The United Federation of Teachers and the NAACP both went to a Manhattan court to block the closure last week, arguing the Department of Education did nothing to fix the failing school. A judge is expected to make a decision soon.
Letters from staff to ex-Chancellor Joel Klein begged for Principal Rashaunda Shaw’s removal. Staff members complained Ms Shaw does not impose discipline or respect.
Staff say the principal is always late, never leaves her office and hired a sister-in-law and her boyfriend’s ex-wife.
Ms Shaw, 35, also hired former Staten Island Assistant Principal Odufuyi Jackson, a friend who was arrested in 2009 on felony charges that he conspired to steal more than $100,000 in Social Security. Last year he pleaded guilty to attempted fabrication of business records. He was demoted to teacher, but staff claim the principal also has him doubling as a dean.
A Department of Education spokeswoman said: ‘A number of allegations are being investigated.
One teacher told the Post: ‘It needs to be closed, closed, closed, because it’s an unsafe place for children. It’s heartbreaking that the small percentage who want to learn don’t get the education they deserve.’
It was also reported that one teacher was transferred after a student threatened to rape his wife.
Another teacher tried to stop a student from hitting him was accused of using ‘corporal punishment.’
A UFT spokesman said the union has met with MS 344 staff in the past year over safety and health fears, as well as alleged harassment from Ms Shaw. The union could cite no results from its effort.
