Controversy
The school received national scrutiny after the New York Post ran an article on June 11, 2007 over the lawsuit brought against the NYC Board of Education by the parents of a former Tottenville High School student, Osama Al-Najjar. Between 2004 and 2006, Tottenville High School faculty allegedly repeatedly humiliated and verbally abused Osama because of his Muslim faith and for having the same first name as the Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The incidents of abuse cited include a gym teacher allegedly stating to the Jordanian-born honor student "I thought you were in the back of a cave somewhere" during a roll call. A math teacher identified as "Ms. Isola" allegedly referred to him as "bin Laden" and told him that he "would never pass." The school administration is also accused of taking no action when the issue was brought to their attention. Osama Al-Najjar increasingly became depressed and attempted to kill himself in 2006, when he was 15 years old. He dropped out of school and disappeared briefly, and has since been attending a specialized school in Brooklyn for students with similar affective issues.
Read more about this topic: Tottenville High School
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