Embattled principal at LaGuardia High for arts resigns after backlash over academics

An embattled principal at the rigorous arts school that inspired the movie “Fame” — and counts Jennifer Aniston and Nicki Minaj among its alumni — is leaving her post after backlash from some parents who accused her of lowering academic standards.

Principal Yeou-Jey Vasconcelos told teachers and parents at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts that she will depart next month for a gig outside the Department of Education, according to an email obtained by the Daily News.

Vasconcelos, a 17-year-veteran of the public school system, is not the first school leader to exit stage left from LaGuardia, as first reported by Chalkbeat. Her predecessor, Lisa Mars, left in 2019 after parents and teachers complained she focused on arts over academics.

“At LaGuardia, every day is a lesson about the importance of the arts, education, and arts education,” read the memo. “Every day, our young thinkers witness adult decision-making and its impact.”

“May LaGuardia’s equity lamp always burn bright,” the principal signed off.

Vasconcelos did not specify her next role; only that it involves working with local students and families.

LaGuardia is one of the city’s nine specialized high schools but the only one to use auditions, rather than the SHSAT entrance exam, to determine admissions. Differing interpretations of what that means for the school — be it an arts program, a rigorous academics program, or a top-performing academics and arts program — was a source of contention between the principal and some parents.

“It just seemed like she was never the right fit for the school,” said Susan Ferugio, a mom of a senior and the vice president of the Parent Association. “You really need somebody who’s strong on academics, and also recognizes the arts.”

Ferugio’s daughter applied to the studio arts program while Mars was the principal but enrolled as Vasconcelos took over.

“What happened for me personally is the school we entered in in ninth grade, it was not going in the same direction,” said Ferugio. “Parents just wanted the school we signed up for, and unfortunately that’s not what we got. Now she’s almost in college.”

Critics charged that a plan under Vasconcelos to cut down on AP courses while expanding other college-level courses last spring put students at a disadvantage during the college admissions process. The proposal, as the principal explained it, was intended to limit stress among students and give teachers more control over curriculum.

Vasconcelos also faced pushback in response to a plan to shorten the longer-than-typical school day following the pandemic, and a grading policy where students can retake tests and their best scores make up the majority of their final grades.

“She was strung up and vilified,” said Vivian Orlen, the former superintendent of Manhattan High Schools who recruited Vasconcelos to LaGuardia. “If we’re going to tie the hands of principals, she will not be the only one resigning.”

Orlen added that pushing out two principals over a few school years could harm the school community: “For teachers in a moment where everybody’s trying to rebuild and have solid ground under their feet, the turnover again is destabilizing.”

David Bloomfield, a professor of education law and policy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center — and a former LaGuardia parent more than a decade ago — said that whether the fallout trickles down to students will depend on who takes over next.

It “might depend whether interim [principal] is internal or from outside the school,” said Bloomfield. “Also, if issue was academics over arts, whether those policies will be reversed.”

Chyann Tull, a spokeswoman for the public schools, said the current superintendent will work with the school to pick a new principal to serve “in the best interests” of students and staff.