The assistant principal in Providence, Rhode Island, tried to solicit donations from faculty and staff, only to learn that she was raising money to fund human traffickers and that students’ families were in danger. According to an email obtained through the Public Records Request for the Parents’ Organization to Protect Education (PDE), the custody body.
On January 26, Mt. Pleasant High School Vice Principal Stephanie Harvey sent an email to other faculty and staff asking for a $2,000 donation for students in need of repayment to “Coyote, an organization that helps people.” . However, another colleague sent Harvey an email dated Jan. 6 that said: obtained The PDE vice-principal was told that the students had been brought into the country by traffickers and that the students’ families could be killed unless the smugglers were paid $2,000.
In a Jan. 6 e-mail exchange, Harvey received an e-mail from a guidance counselor (names redacted) in which the student was forced to leave school because he was working to pay off Coyote. I was told I was late.
“If you commit an illegal act, you are usually given a time limit to pay the offender $5,000,” the email said. “Our students work overtime to pay their salaries and support their families in Guatemala. He only owes $2,000 out of $5,000, but if he doesn’t pay by February 1st, his family will be murdered in his country.”
Twenty days later, Harvey emailed officials, explaining that the immigrant students had to pay the “coyotes” $5,000 by February 1 to bring them to the United States.
After Harvey sent an email asking for donations to faculty and staff on January 26, Tyrell Stevens, a member of the Providence Public School Board, emailed several faculty and staff about “PR damage,” saying: Media reports of teachers “deliberately aiding and abetting traffickers, which infuriates right-wing extremists.”
🚨 UPDATE: FOIA’ED EMAILS @DingingEd At Mount Pleasant High School in Rhode Island, testimony said the assistant principal knew she was raising money for a human trafficker and was aware the students’ families were in danger. .
🧵 https://t.co/0MoJNLgorS https://t.co/fTSI2rNEdr pic.twitter.com/7A8VOwkUW8
— Nicky Naley (@nickineily) June 28, 2023
“The media has painted the PPSD [Providence Public School District] Staff are deliberately aiding and abetting traffickers, enraging right-wing extremists,” Stevens wrote. “If you can say right now that it isn’t, let it happen. The Carlson Tonight talk show and other news outlets have reached out to me, and I have declined to comment as I am waiting for RIDE/PPSD to come up with a response to control the narrative. I’m tired of PPSD always being in the news for the wrong reasons.”
The school district initially claimed the emails were “fake” and that no students were being “trafficked.” The day after the email was sent, the principal of the school said the “nature of the request” was “inappropriate” and that funds raised for immigrant students would be returned in full.
Following Harvey’s January 26th email, the school district put the vice principal on leave. Providence police launched an investigation into the incident in February.
“There are a lot of red flags in this story. How could the vice principal think it’s appropriate to raise money for a human trafficking operation instead of calling law enforcement?” Marilyn Salavaria, PDE Community Engagement Director told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The vice-principal’s emails show a complete lack of knowledge that the coyotes are criminal human smugglers.” Yet the attempt to minimize what happened is also surprising, but not surprising. ”
Mount Pleasant High School, Providence Public Schools, Stevens did not immediately respond to DCNF’s request for comment.
All content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, non-partisan news distribution service, is available free of charge to legitimate news publishers capable of serving large audiences. All reissues must include our company logo, press byline, and DCNF affiliation. If you have any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact us at licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
