Schools' HR head - 'mock slave auction' controversy

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Denise Gagne-Kurpiewski, the district's assistant superintendent for human resources, turned in a letter of resignation on Feb. 18. It is effective on June 30, 2020.

"My resignation is for personal reasons," her letter read.

Gange-Kurpiewski will continue to receive pay and benefits through the end of this school year, though she has been placed on "administrative reassignment."

Her resignation was approved by the Board of Education at a special meeting on Wednesday. According to the documents obtained by The Journal News/lohud through a Freedom of Information request, Gagne-Kurpiewski's contract had been through August 2022.

Superintendent Kenneth Hamilton would not confirm in a statement that the resignation was tied to September's controversial hiring.

"Although we cannot discuss any specifics regarding such matters publicly, we wanted to assure the community that the administration has already made certain immediate changes to strengthen our hiring practices," Hamilton said in a statement

Rebecca Antinozzi was a teacher at the Chapel School, a private Christian school in Bronxville, when she was accused last March of holding a mock slave auction in her classroom. Black students pretended to be slaves, while white students bid on them.

Antinozzi was placed on leave and subsequently fired. The state Attorney General's office investigated the accusations and found them to be true.

On Sept. 17, the Mount Vernon Board of Education hired Antinozzi to teach at Cecil H. Parker Elementary School, a school for grades pre-K to eight where more than 80% of students are African American.

Her hiring quickly drew protest from parents and community members. Hamilton dismissed Antinozzi on Sept. 24.

Hamilton said at the time that he was not aware of Antinozzi's hiring because he was not normally involved with hiring teachers. When Antinozzi's hiring was brought to his attention, he sent the teacher home and promised to identify the "breach" in the district's hiring process.

Putting a face to the name - hard to believe Rebecca Antinozzi is a neo-Nazi. Looks like a nice young lady