By Susan Edelman, Kevin Sheehan and Leonard Greene
January 15, 2014 | 4:05 a.m.
Their school provides them no textbooks, no supplies or art classes.
But here are the underprivileged pupils of Far Rockaway’s PS 106 — dressed to the nines in tuxes and gowns for an elaborate, wedding-themed bash they must pay to attend at the insistence of their do-nothing principal.
Hardworking parents of kids at the notorious Queens “School of No” — many of whom live below the poverty line — are compelled to pay $150 to rent tuxes at Men’s Wearhouse and buy gowns at David’s Bridal, plus kick in $110 for the prom-like charade.
Video from last June’s function shows Principal Marcella Sills, on a dais, in a shoulderless white dress that could pass for a wedding gown, smiling as she surveys the boys and girls parading across a ballroom floor.
“She acted like it was more about her,” said one dad, Robert Oyola. “I thought it was crazy, but I didn’t want my son to miss out.”
A source said a teacher collected cash and checks and deposited the money in the PS 106 bank account that was used to pay Russo’s on the Bay catering hall in Howard Beach.
“I’m on my own with two kids,” said Tonnice McNeill, whose son, Ja-Vonny, went to last year’s bash. “We’re struggling. The principal made it clear: If you didn’t pay to attend, you didn’t attend graduation. And my kid works hard, so I did what I had to do.
“It was strange. The kids don’t even have textbooks. Everything comes home on Xerox. I keep buying supplies for my kids, but it’s not enough.”
The unmarried Sills, 48, who joined the school in 2005, has held the bash for years, parents said.
PS 106 was dubbed the “School of No” for lacking gym and art classes, and having no reading, writing or math books for the rigorous Common Core curriculum.
Insiders pin the blame on the fur-loving, BMW-driving Sills, who makes $128,000 a year, but is chronically late for work — or doesn’t show up at all.
OTOH, this is the closest these kids will ever get to a real prom or a real wedding.
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