Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman has recommended that Chancellor David Banks take disciplinary action against a mother and son duo employed by the New York City Department of Education for their involvement in a scam that defrauded a Manhattan public school for students with disabilities out of nearly $8,500.
Marlene Delgado, 62, a school secretary at PS M169, and her son Nicholas Koukaras, 36, a substitute paraprofessional, “engaged in employee misconduct, falsifying documents, and theft of service,” according to a report by the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools released on March 23, 2023.
While Koukaras was fired and put on the DOE’s “Do Not Hire” list in January 2020, Delgado remains in her position at the school despite the recommendation for disciplinary action up to and including termination. In March, Delgado agreed to pay a $10,000 fine to the city Conflicts of Interest Board.
A DOE spokesman called the actions of Delgado and Koukaras “unacceptable” but both individuals refused to be interviewed by SCI investigators and did not return messages seeking comment on the situation.
