Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes may be leaving office on Dec. 31, but she still has amassed clout and bully pulpit that extends from Buffalo to Albany – and she is not afraid to use it when it comes to the beleaguered Buffalo Public School District and its Board of Education.
The School Board is at the center of, what is largely, a self-inflicted public perception misstep that has reached a crescendo in recent weeks with the abrupt resignation of superintendent Dr. Pascal Mubenga on July 13. Three days later, he and Central District Board member Lewis “Muki” Hawkins were named in a legal notice of claims, alleging both of sexually and personally harassing a female school district employee.
Mubenga resigned less than one year from taking the Buffalo job, but Hawkins remains on the Board and claims innocence…