Ex-con was hired by New York City charter school

Convicted heroin dealer Carlos Tapia supervised kids in cafeteria at Innovate Charter School

Carlos Tapia, a convicted heroin dealer, was hired in May at Innovate Charter School, where he supervised kids in the cafeteria.

He went from the big house to schoolhouse in just over two months.


A charter school hired a convicted heroin dealer — and put him to work with kids — without a background check that would have quickly turned up his criminal past.

Carlos Tapia, 31, was hired in May at Innovate Charter School, where he supervised kids in the cafeteria. He expected to be fingerprinted so his past could be checked, but the school didn’t bother, he said.

“I could have been a person who was dangerous,” said Tapia, who was a public school teacher’s aide before he served a year and half for heroin distribution.

The high-profile school, then sharing Tweed Courthouse space with the Department of Education itself, did fire Tapia after three months — but he still can’t believe that he was even hired by a charter school in such a prime location.

“It’s just crazy. What if I was someone who really couldn’t be trusted?” Tapia said. “What if I had anger-management issues?

“I even took the elevator with the chancellor (Dennis Walcott) all the time,” he added.

A charter school official said that background checks were “always done,” claiming that Tapia’s had been completed by an employee no longer with the school.

Head of school Gayla Thompson declined to further comment, saying that Tapia “is no longer an employee here.” She then hung up on a reporter.

A source familiar with the inner workings of the school said officials were entirely in the dark about Tapia’s past until contacted by the Daily News.

The school is now reviewing all personnel records, the source said.

Absent the heroin arrest, Tapia’s résumé suggested that he was qualified for the charter job. Before turning to crime, he made $10 per hour as a public school teacher’s aide.

He said he was barely making end meet — then his hours were cut due to the fiscal crisis. That’s when he made a “mistake,” choosing to suppliment his income by transporting heroin to Ohio. The city fired him after the arrest.

Tapia applied to Innovate Manhattan because of his previous experience in education, and even says he checked with the state to see if charter schools would be able to hire someone with a criminal record.

He fully expected to undergo the fingerprinting required by the state for charter schools as well as public schools.

Innovate Charter parents expressed shock at the revelation this week.

“I didn't know anything about it. Now I’ve got all kinds of questions for the school. I want to know if my daughter is safe,” said Huberney Chavez, 47, whose daughter is in sixth grade.

“They’ve got to check the backgrounds of employees. It's important you've got to know who's taking care of our kids. I don't care if it's public, private or charter they should check their backgrounds.”

Innovate Manhattan is not the first first charter school to hire an employee previously fired by the public schools. Columbia Secondary School Principal Jose Maldonado-Rivera, fired after the drowning of 12-year-old Nicole Suriel on a field trip, was hired by Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School, The News reported in June.

Convicted drug dealer Carlos Tapia worked for three months at the Tweed Courthouse, also home to office of New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.