59 minutes ago
2
A posh Upper East Side daycare and preschool that costs up to $40,000 a year is under investigation in connection to an allegation that a student was sexually abused by a staff member — and livid parents claim the administration kept them in the dark for more than a week.
The city Health Department was tipped off to the horrific accusation and launched the probe on April 27 into the Second Avenue location of Manhattan Schoolhouse after inspectors found that the staff failed to report the horrific accusation within 24 hours, as required by law, according to agency records.
But Manhattan Schoolhouse, a chain with other Upper East Side locations that serves kids ages 3 months to 5 years old, didn’t address the situation publicly until a week later, when a social media post about the incident blew up in an online moms’ group, according to fuming parents.
“We are fully cooperating with all authorities regarding the allegations,” reads an email from Manhattan Schoolhouse’s leadership sent Thursday to parents and obtained by The Post. “Nothing has been substantiated and our comprehensive, internal investigation found no support for the allegations.”
A statement from a parent claiming to be the alleged victim’s guardian circulating on social media stated the daycare’s “lack of explanation and responsiveness left us no choice to go to the pediatrician which triggered the investigation.
“We were very careful before making any accusations and tried to work with the MSH leadership,” the post said, adding that “MSH Leadership has been awful to work with,” and administrators “immediately removed our two children from daycare.”
“We thought it was best to cut ties with this family by disenrolling their second child that was continuing to attend school during the investigation due to reasons that, out of respect to the family and staff, are not appropriate for us to share,” the email from leadership added.
“This step was taken to protect the schools, the staff, and the children from ongoing issues or risk.”
The school’s CEO and founder Kamila Faruki declined a request for comment, citing the open investigation.
“Our top priority is the safety and well-being of New York City children in childcare and we take allegations of child abuse very seriously,” a health department spokesperson told The Post.
Fines are “pending” in regard to Manhattan Schoolhouse’s “open” mandatory reporting violation, per inspection documents.
Sending children to daycare at Manhattan Schoolhouse comes with a steep price tag.
The standard daily schedule of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. costs parents $3,250 a month, or $39,000 a year. The pre-K program, however, is run by the city Department of Education and is therefore free — though wrap-around care after 2:30 p.m. can cost more than $25,000 a year for working families.
The news comes as Manhattan Schoolhouse told its parents it would be raising tuition for some by a staggering 20% and blamed the tuition spike in part on the city’s “destabilizing” universal preschool expansion.
Still, “a lot of our families that don’t have a ton of money, it’s kind of like the cheapest option still, even after they increase the tuition,” the parent said. “We’re stuck here.”
“A child was sexually abused and they didn’t report it,” the parent added. “The school has an obligation to report, and they didn’t.”
The parent, who declined to provide her name to The Post out of fear of retaliation, alleged Manhattan Schoolhouse has previously refused to provide classroom camera footage at guardians’ request.
“This is the worst nightmare that every parent has every time that they send their children to school,” she said, “and they can’t see what’s happening?”
“We’re all like, beside ourselves,” she added. “Other families are already talking about like pulling their kids out of Manhattan Schoolhouse. Other families that … were going to send their kids to Schoolhouse are now cancelling.”
In the Thursday email to parents, school leadership contended it maintains “working cameras in all of our classrooms and in common areas.
“We reviewed all camera footage and found no evidence or support for the allegations,” the school added. “We have shared all video footage and documentation with the agencies and will continue to provide them with any other material they request.”
This isn’t the first time the Second Avenue location has been issued violations from the city, either.
An October inspection found floors/wall ceilings were “not maintained; in disrepair or covered in a toxic finish,” per inspection records. The issue was later corrected, the agency noted.
In April 2025, inspectors also observed the child care service “failed to ensure staff received required training within time frames and/or failed to maintain training records,” and that assistant teachers did not “meet age and educational requirements.”
Those violations were later corrected.
Inspections last year at another Manhattan Schoolhouse location at 1624 First Avenue found similar teacher “age and educational requirements” violations, including one violation from last May still marked as “open.”
A since-resolved violation also found staff acting as group teachers “do not meet the required qualifications of the position.”
An October inspection bizarrely found the building wasn’t approved as a child care facility by at least one city agency. That violation was since corrected — though the site was dinged for the same violation in January.
At the school’s 507 West 28th St. location, inspectors found both insufficient lighting and insufficient daily attendance record-keeping last year, and in January 2025, found that the site “failed to provide appropriate guards … to protect children from potential injury.”
Faruki declined a request for comment regarding the previous health department violations.
“We are doing all we can to work through this investigation with the agencies to resolve it as quickly as possible,” the email from leadership added.
“Unfortunately, we cannot control the speed of the investigation.”
English (US)