Carranza Challenges Claims By 'Agitators' And Critics

Repercussions from a tense town hall last week continued on Tuesday, with Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza deriding his most vocal critics as "outside agitators" who staged a "set-up" at the meeting in Bayside, Queens. 

"So when you have agitators who show up with their 'Fire Carranza' t-shirts, driving vans full of people not from that district, I don't know what else to call it," he said.

The meeting focused on allegations of sexual assault and fighting at the Bayside middle school M.S. 158. Some parents complained Carranza did not take their concerns seriously enough. But Carranza said he dispatched crisis counselors to the school, received daily updates, and had the superintendent monitoring the situation. 

This latest conflict follows tension between parents and Carranza over other hot-button issues such as school integration efforts and proposed changes to the single-test admissions policy for a group of top-performing high schools.