Whistleblowers have accused Aneesha Jacko, the principal of PS 35 Nathaniel Woodhull in Queens, of improperly using school funds, effectively turning the school into a “slush fund” for friends. The allegations suggest the money benefited her wealthy acquaintances, including former Jay-Z manager Damon Dash and his wife.
Staffers claim Jacko, who became principal in October 2020, has spent tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on books published by her friends, hired others as consultants, and prominently promoted their brands with a large lobby mural that acts as a “billboard,” according to the New York Post.
A faculty member expressed shock that she “is still allowed to run our school.”
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For over three years, complaints regarding Jacko’s spending have been under investigation by the Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) for city schools, spokesman Jason Brooks confirmed.
“The case is still open, and therefore the SCI cannot comment,” he told the New York Post.
Despite these issues, officials have not accused Jacko of any criminal wrongdoing. However, in 2022, the SCI issued a report criticizing Jacko for improperly granting excess overtime to a favored teacher, resulting in $10,500 in improper payments. Furthermore, the independent agency referred three other complaints against Jacko to the city Department of Education for investigation.
Jacko’s closest associates include Dash, Jay-Z’s ex-business partner and co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records, and Dash’s wife, Raquel Horn.
PS 35, a school with 642 students, purchased approximately 500 copies of “Dusko Goes to Sea,” Horn’s new book; Horn visited the school to celebrate in February. Sources familiar with the purchase indicate that the copies, which retail for $14.95 each in paperback, were bought using school funds.
The school had also bought numerous copies of Horn’s previous book, “Dusko Goes to Space,” in 2022. The total expenditure for the books could not be determined.
Dash defended these purchases and criticized the investigation.
“There’s a budget for them to buy books. So why is it a problem?” he asked The Post, saying PS 35 “tested” the books first and found them beneficial.
“I think it’s a racist thing that she’s even being looked at and scrutinized,” he said.
“It’s just because she’s a black woman that has good reading scores for her kids and gets more for her money. She’s trying to help these kids learn how to read.”
PS 35’s student performance on state reading exams lags behind the city average, with only 40% of students in grades 3 to 5 testing proficient, compared to the 47% citywide average reported by the DOE.
School records reviewed by The Post show Jacko used $10,000 in school funds on March 9, 2022, to pay Poppington LLC. Dash, the mogul associated with Poppington Clothing & Dame Dash Studios, stated this purchase was for t-shirts, adding that he sold the clothing to Jacko “at cost” to maximize the school’s purchase volume.
However, Jacko’s Instagram account cites a “paid partnership” with Poppington Clothing & Dame Dash Studios, a claim Dash refuted, stating the studio dissolved several years ago and no such partnership exists.
Jacko’s Instagram photos show the principal with Dash and Horn in social settings, including a birthday celebration at their home in Queens with the hashtag “family” in the caption, and a visit to a Legoland theme park with their kids.
“Of course, once you start doing business with somebody, you get to know them,” Dash stated.
“So we know her, but the only way we know her is from her educating us and telling us how to help her.”
Dennis McKesey, the CEO and founder of In Our Best Interest and Off School Grounds, introduced Dash to Jacko. McKesey’s companies specialize in collaborating with principals on urban education reform.
Staffers said that Jacko had hired McKesey for two consecutive years before the investigation by the SCI started. Furthermore, school records show payments totaling $49,100 were made to In Our Best Interest LLC. in early 2022.
“Nobody knew what the hell he did for us,” a teacher said.
“There were no visible signs that this man was helping our school in any way. He was hardly ever there.”
Jacko’s Instagram suggests a close association with McKesey and Dash through numerous photos and videos.
Jacko’s self-published book from 2022, “Audacity to Speak: Finding the Power to Be Your Most Authentic Self,” was promoted on the OSG website, which is currently offline.
McKesey chose not to comment on his involvement at the school.
Sources report that Jacko also showed favoritism toward A. McClarty, a fellow member of the African-American service sorority Delta Sigma Theta. Using the school budget, Jacko reportedly bought around 100 copies of McClarty’s book, “Reaching for the Stars: 10 Secret Steps to Connecting with Celebrities and Building Your Brand,” for all fourth-grade students at PS 35.
School records indicate that in 2022, Jacko paid $26,877 to Young Faces Smiling, a non-profit organization run by McClarty. The book being purchased, which lacks a specific age recommendation, is designed to encourage students to contact celebrities to learn about their careers.
Furthermore, records reveal other questionable expenditures, including a big purchase of 1,285 books written by Jacko’s friend, Brianna Greenspan.
School records indicate the principal used $61,000 in early 2022 to purchase hundreds of books—including 435 copies of “Everything is Right About You,” 200 copies of “I Am the Best Me,” and 630 copies of a $20 coloring book, “The Miracle Morning Art of Affirmations”—from Sussman Education Inc., the books’ publisher.
“She hardly buys any other books for children to read,” a teacher said of the massive purchase.
Adding to the controversy, Jacko commissioned a large mural for the school lobby. This mural features titles or words from books by Greenspan and another friend, McClarty, along with “Revolutionary” from a book by another acquaintance, Amen Rahh. The mural also includes the letters OSG, Horn’s “Dusko,” and the logo for Horn’s YouTube channel, “Apple Fish Kids,” a detail that has reportedly “irk[ed] insiders.”
“This is free advertisement for your friends with taxpayer dollars,” a staffer complained.
Instagram posts further show a personal connection between Jacko and Greenspan, with photos, like one captioned “Sunday Funday in Queens” showing the two smiling together in a hair salon.
Meanwhile, DOE procurement regulations mandate that employees spending taxpayer funds must “encourage competition, prevent fraud, favoritism, and corruption, and obtain the best value in the interest of the DOE and the taxpayers.”
