NYC school officials organized Disney trips for homeless students: NPR

A general view of Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World Resort in March 2022 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

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Disney trips intended for homeless public school students in New York City were instead used by the families of school employees, according to a report released earlier this month by the school district’s special counsel.

Six staff members took their children or grandchildren on trips to Disney World, New Orleans and other locations that were intended as recreational activities for students living in shelters and other types of transitional housing, the report said.

Linda Wilson, the regional manager in charge of supporting students in transitional housing in Queens, took her children on trips funded by grants specifically for homeless students and even encouraged the staff she supervised to do the same, the report said.

“What happens here affects us,” an employee quoted Wilson as saying.

Wilson forged permission slips in students’ names and hired an outside contractor to book field trips because “there is less oversight over nonprofit organizations” than if the trips had been booked directly through the city’s Department of Education, the report said.

A statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse stands near Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on January 9, 2019.

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A statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse stands near Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on January 9, 2019.

John Raoux/AP

The investigation began in May 2019 after the DOE received a whistleblower complaint about the misconduct and was completed in January of last year.

“It is the general practice of the Special Investigation Commissioner to withhold release of our reports while administrative actions are pending,” the Office of the Special Investigation Commissioner told NPR.

The report recommends that Wilson and the five employees involved in the fraud be fired and that the Department of Energy “sought reimbursement of all costs incurred by the Department of Energy from those who wrongfully benefited from these actions.”

“Both the Department of Energy and the NYC Conflicts of Interest Board have accepted our findings and taken action,” the SCI told NPR.

NPR has reached out to the DOE for further comment on these measures, and the NYC Public Schools press office said it will respond in detail as soon as possible.

NPR also attempted to reach Linda Wilson for comment.