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10/02/2012 01:04 PM

Walcott: Removal Of Fmr. Brooklyn Principal, Others Based On "Severity"

By: NY1 News

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Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott is defending the education department's decision to let a former assistant principal accused of inappropriate behavior with a student stay on the job at a Brooklyn high school.

Christian Del Re is a former teacher and assistant principal at Leon Goldstein High School in Manhattan Beach.

He was recently removed from the school after the special schools investigator found he had "inappropriate" contact with an 18-year-old female student over a three-month period.

Speaking to NY1 Tuesday, Walcott explained why Del Re was allowed to stay on the job even with allegations against him.

"Well you have allegations of i.e. individuals or students on a regular basis. And it depends on the severity of the allegation and then we make the determination whether to remove an individual or not," Walcott said.

Investigators say Del Re exchanged nearly 3,000 text messages and made more than a dozen late night phone calls to the girl.

At his home on Staten Island, neither Del Re nor his wife would comment, but he previously told investigators that he never touched the student.

The DOE says it is in the process of firing him.