PRESSURE MOUNTS FOR CASH'S REMOVAL
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
As chronicled in our ground breaking inaugural story, released Friday February 18, 2022 (click here), McKinley High School began spiraling downward approximately five years ago when Superintendent Kriner Cash appointed Marck Abraham (guidance counselor/AP, with no teaching experience) to the position of Acting School Principal after Crystal Boling Barton was placed on leave. Abraham's lax discipline style, absenteeism, anti-teacher approach and basic incompetence undid the years of structure, school community and safety built up by former Principal Crystal Boling Barton and her staff. Cash's appointment of Abraham went against past practice and resulted in the district paying three individuals (Barton, Abraham and Naomi Cerre) "principal pay", all for the same position, congruently, for several years, wasting valuable tax payer dollars in a district that has an extremely impoverished and needy population. (click here)
During Abraham's three plus years as principal at McKinley, Superintendent Cash ignored pleas from McKinley teachers for help. In 2018 The Buffalo Teachers Federation notified Cash that the McKinley teachers passed a "vote of no confidence" (click here) for Abraham. In 2019 Rumore once again notified Cash of a climate survey (click here) taken by the McKinley teachers identifying that the teachers felt that the school was unsafe under Abraham. Cash repeatedly ignored news reports of violence at McKinley and calls for Abraham to be replaced.
Abraham was finally prompted to resign in the summer of 2020 as Superintendent Cash had lost grievance after grievance to Cerre for his improper placement of Abraham as principal of McKinley. Mrs. Cerre was finally awarded the "Acting Principal" post at McKinley, that she should have been awarded when Barton went on leave. Cerre held the principalship until January 2021 until she retired. Carmelita Burgin, was then appointed acting Principal until February 2022 when she was replaced by Mr. Khalil, Moustafa. On Wednesday February 9, 2022 a student was stabbed multiple times and a security guard was shot, outside school at dismissal time.
Since February 9, 2022 pressure has mounted for Cash's removal. On Thursday February 17, 2022 The Buffalo Teachers Federation issued a vote of no-confidence for Dr. Kriner Cash (click here)(click here). On Sunday February 20, 2022 Fox 29 reporter, Emily Girsch aired a special report, which featured veteran McKinley teacher Joseph Marciniak, who laid blame for the violence at McKinley on Dr. Cash for appointing Abraham as principal. Mr. Marciniak stated “The decision to put that individual, Dr. Abraham, into that position that he wasn’t ready for or qualified for, set into motion a series of events that ultimately led to what you saw on February 9th." (click here) (click here). On Monday February 21, 2022, Aurielle Austin, the mother of the boy who was stabbed spoke out against Buffalo Public schools, "I want for the Buffalo Public Schools to acknowledge their wrong and neglect and see to it that these Buffalo Public Schools are more than secure from here on out." (click here) The mother has reportedly filed a notice of claim against the district, which is the beginning of the legal process for a lawsuit.
All of this has led to great speculation and rumor that the Buffalo Board of Education may place cash on leave and begin termination proceedings, as soon as this week. The board certainly has "just cause" to terminate Cash, without wasting any further tax payer dollars, and should do so, considering Cash so frivolously wasted the district's money when he paid three principals for one position, as a result of him appointing inexperience and unqualified Abraham to the position of McKinley Principal, which many believe, led to all the aforementioned events.
