School Guidance Counselor Claims He Was Fired for Being a 'Voodoo Ambassador'

A former high-school guidance counselor at It Takes a Village Academy (ITAVA) in the East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn claims he was fired for being a “voodoo ambassador“ — and he’s taken his grievances to the press.

Stevenson Petit tells the New York Post that his ex-boss, Marina Vinitskaya, the principal at ITAVA, dismissed him because of his “Haitian background with a voodoo culture.”

“It’s discrimination,” he says.

Petit has showed the Post his letter of dismissal, which reportedly says he was “excessed” because the school didn’t need a guidance counselor anymore.

But Petit, 55, alleges the real reason is Vinit­skaya objects to his religion and its association with magical voodoo dolls and mindless zombie slaves.

“I’m a voodoo ambassador. There’s nothing wrong with being a Christian and a voodoo minister,” Petit said.

The begrudged guidance counselor tells the Post that Vinitskaya moved his office to a dark, windowless basement in a remote part of campus.

“The room has no windows, and, as a result, there is no air circulation, and this is a health hazard to me and the students that are mandated to receive counseling,” he reportedly wrote in a letter to the principal in March.

Patch has reached out to both Petit and Vinitskaya for their sides of the story; we’re waiting to hear back.

A spokesman for the NYC Department of Education says in a statement to Patch: “We take this allegation very seriously, and are looking into the matter.”

Petit has been employed by the DOE for more than two decades, and has been counseling kids at ITAVA since 2010.

Because of union agreements, Petit can’t easily be kicked out of the NYC school system: He’s still employed by the DOE, but must now look for a job at a different campus.

However, Petit tells PIX11 that he hasn’t been able to find any open positions.

ITAVA is a small school with about 500 students in a low-income area of east Brooklyn. It says its mission is to ”help students gain academic skills and knowledge, promote an understanding of, and respect for, diverse cultures and languages, support active and responsible citizenship, and inspire in our students a lifelong love of learning and pursuit of excellence.”