The union representing city school principals is ordering its members to keep quiet if investigators ask about school procurement practices, in the wake of The Post’s bombshell exposé on Chancellor Kamar Samuels’ alleged involvement in shady, no-bid contracts.
“Please be reminded that you should not answer any questions prompted by an investigator,” said a June 17 email from the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.
The missive, signed by Laurelton School Principal and CSA District 29 chair Estelle Moore, warns that the probe by the Special Commissioner of Investigation, the independent Department of Education watchdog, is ongoing.
“SCI is active again this morning, requesting PO [purchase order] related documentation,” reads the email, which instructs principals to ask for the investigator’s contact information and say that a representative from the CSA will contact them.
The email also instructs principals to contact CSA field rep Patrick Burns, according to reporter Susan Edelman’s Substack.
“Starting from the principle that principals will incriminate themselves or their union if they talk is a pretty bad look for CSA,” former Community Education Council 2 President Maud Maron told The Post.
The CSA email did instruct principals to turn over any documents or emails requested by investigators, because they are Department of Education property.
The SCI has been under fire since The Post revealed the investigative agency allegedly covered up Samuels’ role in signing an inappropriate $180,000 no-bid contract.
Samuels inked the deal with Kreyco CEO Sean Kreyling in 2023 when he was superintendent of District 3 on the Upper West Side, and allegedly proceeded to split payments between Kreyling’s two companies to keep checks below the $25,000 threshold that would have triggered city oversight.
The SCI report issued in June 2025 pinned the blame on Samuels’ deputy superintendent Mariela Graham, who subsequently signed a near-identical contract with Kreyling in 2024 — and made no mention of Samuels’ role in the scheme.
SCI denied engaging in a cover-up and claimed that they were only looking into the years covered by Graham’s contract, but their own report contradicted that account.
“Graham signed a contract with LLN for $180,000 to provide language teachers for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years,” the report falsely stated.
The report also included an email sent by Kreyling to Graham, which discussed the payment splitting, but did not mention that Samuels was also CC’d on the email.
The shamefaced agency is now redoubling its efforts to look into procurement violations in the city school system after disastrous City Hall hearings highlighted the cover-up, a source told The Post.
The DOE spent $386 million procuring services from outside vendors in the 2025 fiscal year, and violations of city rules are plaguing the agency, a December 2025 SCI report found.
“Violations of procurement rules often resulted in financial losses to the DOE, led to state and federal prosecutions, and/or prevented the DOE from working with the most qualified vendors at fair market prices,” the report stated.
CSA Communications Director Craig DiFolco claimed the email was not an official CSA communication, but admitted it represented official CSA policy.
“CSA always urges members who are contacted by investigators to exercise their right to have union representation before participating in any interview,” he said.
