Deputy Mayor Didn't 'Pull Strings' To Get Kids Into Brooklyn Schools, City Finds

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — One of the city's deputy mayors didn't receive any special treatment when he got his two kids into a pair of schools in Brooklyn before the family moved to the city, an investigation has found.

The city's Special Commissioner of Investigation said this week that Deputy Mayor Richard Buery "acted appropriately" when he sought guidance from Department of Education officials to help enroll his kids in school.

The investigation followed a New York Post report that said Buery "pulled one string after another" to get his kids into schools in District 15, which includes Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Gowanus, Park Slope and part of Sunset Park.

"After careful review of this matter, SCI has determined that there was no intent by Richard Buery to seek inappropriate special considerations regarding the enrollment of his children in DOE District 15 schools," a statement from the Special Commissioner of Investigation said.

"Further, SCI has concluded that DOE personnel acted appropriately in assisting and supporting the Buery family in their search for educational options for their children in 2014."

Buery exchanged emails with DOE officials in February of 2014, when he was the president and CEO of the Children’s Aid Society and he and his family lived in New Rochelle, according to a letter from SCI Commissioner Richard Condon. Buery was set to become the city's deputy mayor for strategic policy initiative but wanted to make sure his kids would be enrolled in school in time for the 2014-15 school year.

He contacted Sayde Campoamor, then a special assistant to DOE Chancellor Carmen Fariña, about setting up some tours of schools in the district, since his family planned to move to Park Slope, Condon wrote.

"Campoamor stressed that she was not asked to get Student A or Student B enrolled in any specific school, but rather to help shepherd the family through an unfamiliar system so as to speed up the process for them," Condon said in his letter to the Department of Education.

Once they got the proper paperwork in place, Buery's kids were able to be enrolled in the schools, the letter said. The letter did not specify which schools Buery's kids ended up at, but the Post report said Buery's oldest son attended M.S. 51 in Park Slope.

You can read Condon's full letter to the Department of Education below:

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