Wyandanch middle school Principal Shannon Burton reassigned in wake of his arrest
Wyandanch schools interim Superintendent Larry Aronstein and school board President Latesha Walker at the board meeting Wednesday. Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
The schools chief in Wyandanch on Thursday appointed a high school assistant principal to lead Milton L. Olive Middle School, whose incumbent principal faces an aggravated harassment charge and has since been reassigned.
Wyandanch schools interim Superintendent Larry Aronstein chose Michele Darby, an assistant principal at Wyandanch Memorial High School and a former middle school principal in the Amityville district, as acting principal beginning Thursday.
Principal Shannon Burton, 44, of Yonkers, has been reassigned to home, Aronstein said. He has not resigned, the superintendent said. In 2022-23, Burton earned $188,604 a year, according to a Newsday analysis of educators' pay.
Burton declined to comment Thursday. Darby did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Aronstein’s decision came one day after the Wyandanch school board rejected a candidate he had put forth — Taalib Brown, an educational consultant — for the acting principal role. Trustees Shameka Brown and James Crawford voted against a resolution to appoint Brown.
A vote of at least four in support is needed to pass a resolution. The board typically has seven trustees, but former board President Jarod Morris was removed from his seat in June and that seat has remained empty. Its vice president, Shirley Baker, did not attend Wednesday’s work session.
The board also rejected a resolution to hire David J. Flatley, a retired superintendent who most recently worked as the interim superintendent of Commack schools, for the job of assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. Brown, Crawford and Felice Holder voted against it.
The three trustees did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Board President Latesha Walker and trustee Kathy Corbin supported both candidates.
Walker said Thursday she voted for both as they were recommended by the superintendent.
“He has presented high-caliber candidates since his inception,” Walker wrote in a text, citing Aronstein’s more than five decades of experience in education. "I read, review and do my diligence to ensure my understanding for a solid vote."
Aronstein began working in Wyandanch in July and reinstated three administrators, including Burton, who had been reassigned to work from home last fall due to allegations that they inflated grades. Aronstein cited an outside investigation that did not find evidence they tampered with Regents scores.
But Burton, just a few weeks after he returned to the district, was arrested and charged with aggravated harassment in connection with a phone call he made late last month to a 32-year-old woman, in which he allegedly threatened to harm her boyfriend, according to the NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Andrew Marks, an assistant district attorney with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, said in court July 27 during Burton’s arraignment that Burton was an ex-boyfriend of the woman and that the two had broken up at the end of 2023.
Burton allegedly repeatedly called the woman from the evening of July 25 through early the next morning, Marks said. Throughout that night, the prosecutor said, Burton repeatedly rang the woman’s doorbell, prompting her to call 911.
John D. Pappalardo, a White Plains-based attorney representing Burton, has said his client denies the allegations and that Burton expects to be absolved of the charges.
Burton, a former teacher and administrator in Yonkers and New York City, was appointed principal at the middle school in Wyandanch in July 2022. He is scheduled to return to court Sept. 11.
The next Wyandanch school board meeting is set for Wednesday.
Dandan Zou covers education for Newsday. Previously, she worked for a community newspaper in Maryland and a personal finance magazine in Washington, D.C.
