STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A lawsuit filed by two former teachers makes claims of lax security and inadequate staffing at a preschool in Eltingville that was temporarily shuttered after toddlers allegedly wandered out of the building last year.
Alexa Avdalas, a lead teacher, and Rose O’Connor, an assistant teacher, were fired from their jobs at Holy Child Preschool at 4747 Amboy Road after the episode on Sept. 25, 2024, according to the lawsuit.
Avdalas and O’Connor are plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed on Feb. 21 in state Supreme Court in St. George by the Manhattan law firm of Glass & Hogrogian.
Named as defendants are the Archdiocese of New York, Holy Child R.C. Church, the preschool and its director, Elizabeth Esposito.
The lawsuit claims that Avdalas and O’Connor were supervising about 15 students ages 2 to 3 years old during the morning session in the basement of the building on Sept. 25.
At about 10 a.m., the lawsuit alleges the plaintiffs were assisting students during their scheduled bathroom break when “two students were able to exit the doors, traverse the stairway, and ultimately exit the building through the main entrance before being safely retrieved by Ms. Avdalas shortly thereafter.”
The lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs were unaware that basement doors leading out of the classroom were unlocked, allowing the toddlers access to the stairs that led to an exit.
The plaintiffs allege in court filings they were led to believe, based on information shared at annual teacher orientation and in manuals distributed to parents, that the doors would be locked at all times to prevent students from entering or leaving the basement.
Contrary to stated safety protocols, the “double door buzzer entries” were not installed and/or operational, and the “extensive camera system,” was not being actively monitored, the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs’ classroom was understaffed since “several students in the teachers’ class were two years old,” requiring additional supervision to comply with requirements from the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Lawsuit details probe
Avdalas and O’Connor spoke to Esposito immediately after the incident and claim in their court filing they were assured by the director that “their jobs were not in jeopardy.”
The plaintiffs worked their usual schedules for the remainder of Sept. 25 and the next day, but were told on the evening of Sept. 26 that an investigation would ensue and they would be placed on administrative leave without pay, according to the lawsuit.
Avdalas said she was contacted by a representative of the city Administration for Children’s Services on Sept. 27 and “provided a summary of the incident as well as other details she believed contributed to the incident in question.”
An investigator for the city Health Department arrived at the school on Sept. 30 and met with the plaintiffs, Esposito and Michela Lattuca-Bonamico, a member of the office staff, according to the lawsuit.
Lattuca-Bonamico is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
At the request of the investigator, the lawsuit claims Avdalas accurately provided the ages of the students and said that seven of the students were 2 years old.
The lawsuit alleges that “Ms. Lattuca-Bonamico attempted to supplement Ms. Avdalas’ answer by asserting that all the students were three years old.“
The lawsuit also alleges that on Sept. 30 “while speaking with Ms. Lattuca-Bonamico privately about the alarms that were supposed to be on the doors and whether that was relevant to the Health Department investigation, Ms. Lattuca-Bonamico responded to Ms. Avdalas, “I don’t know, just don’t mention it.”
The investigator interviewed O’Connor over the phone on Sept. 30.
The lawsuit notes that as previously reported in the Advance/SILive.com, the Department of Health cited the school for violations. On the evening of Sept. 30, the preschool was temporarily closed and not allowed to reopen until the violations were corrected, according to the lawsuit.
Preschool allegedly challenges unemployment claims
Despite being repeatedly assured that their jobs were safe, the employment of Avdalas and O’Connor was terminated on Oct. 3, according to the lawsuit.
The school retaliated against the plaintiffs by quashing their receipt of unemployment insurance benefits, the filing alleges.
The plaintiffs initially were awarded unemployment and Avdalas claims that the school contested her entitlement citing “misconduct.”
The lawsuit seeks a judgment that the defendants violated New York Labor Law 740, namely retaliatory action by an employer. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages and coverage of their costs for the lawsuit.
The preschool did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Archdiocese of New York also did not respond to a request for comment as of time of publication.
Violations cited by Health Department
Parents were notified in a letter issued after the incident that on Sept. 25, “two children were not with the rest of their class for a brief period.” The children were “unharmed” and “soon returned to class,” according to the letter.
The school previously was approved to accept 159 children ages 2 to 5, according to the Health Department website posting last September.
The department conducted a non-routine “monitoring inspection,” according to the agency’s website.
“Constant and competent supervision provided by adequate staff for children and groups of children” was listed as a violation that required immediate correction, according to the Health Department website in September.
On its website, the Health Department also listed two additional “critical” violations regarding possession and/or distribution of a written safety plan and reporting an incident to the department within 24 hours.
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