So much for “principles.”
A woke high school principal who preaches love, respect and “creative responses” to conflict was caught on video shoving a student outside his Bronx Collaborative HS – and putting his dukes up to brawl.
Brett Schneider was seen on the video posted to social media during an Oct. 24 fracas outside the Bedford Park school, pushing the teen and then raising his fists in a fighting stance. A school safety agent was standing nearby, but Schneider took matters into his own hands.
The NYPD confirmed that school safety agents called 911 about a fight that day and said no arrests were made.
Students told The Post that the incident followed a fight a day or two earlier between a boy and girl that resulted in the girl getting milk dumped on her. They said a relative of the girl’s came to the school to confront the boy and sucker-punched him.
“And then the principal squared up,” one junior said. “He looked like he was a boxer. I was like ‘Wow, this is unbelievable.’”
Other students said it seemed as if Schneider was trying to defend the adult who hit the teen.
“That’s a grown man. So, as a grown man, why are you helping another grown man fight a kid?” one gobsmacked senior said.
Parents were also stunned.
“You’re talking about the principal, the leader of the school, a grown man, who is supposed to be trained in de-escalating situations actually out in the street fighting and making it worse,” said Tom Sheppard, a parent representative on the Department of Education’s Panel for Educational Policy, who posted the shocking video on Twitter.
Schneider’s pugilistic behavior was a far cry from his online statements about how to run his school, which is located on the DeWitt Clinton Campus and has about 550 students.
He was quoted on the website of the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility in Manhattan saying, “We’ve created a whole different atmosphere – one of love and respect. Kids are less likely to get into fights. When there is a fight, they know that they won’t be demonized … Finding creative responses to conflict can be life-changing.”
Elsewhere on the center’s website he boasts about the effectiveness of restorative practices in reducing fights.
“We noticed that we hadn’t had a single fight, physical or verbal, in 12 weeks. It’s because we’ve been building trust. We’ve created a climate of civility and respect,” he says in the undated post.
Schneider, 49, worked at Manhattan’s Institute for Collaborative Education, a progressive DOE school, before becoming the founding principal of Bronx Collaborative HS in 2013. The school’s website says, “We prize individuality, diversity, and authenticity — working together to address issues of social justice and to create positive change in the world.”
“Teachers work with students on social justice issues through community circles each week and resolve conflicts creatively through restorative circles, conversations, and conferencing,” the website says.
As a principal, Schneider is no knockout, students told The Post.
“I don’t like him, nobody likes him,” said one freshman, who described how he recently argued with her music teacher about the day’s lesson during class. “He just thinks he’s always right. He never gives anybody else a chance to talk. He has an attitude.”
A staffer told The Post that Schneider “has been caught yelling aggressively at parents and school safety agents if he doesn’t get his way.”
Schneider also gets harsh criticism on the website of UFT Solidarity, a progressive caucus of the teachers’ union, where he is on a list of “administrators in need of improvement.”
He was called “misogynistic” and described as “constantly” pivoting and talking too much. Schneider was paid $223,861 in 2022.
“He repeatedly says he wants to build community but only ever implements his ideas. The joke is that at Bronx Collaborative, there is nothing collaborative about the place,” one anonymous former staff member wrote.
Schneider referred to the DOE for comment and a spokesman did not immediately respond.
