Twenty-three or so years ago, a studious, but aggressive, defensive kid in Linden Junior High seemed to be in consistent, if not constant, trouble. He didn’t understand the law of what was then the jungle of Hollis, Queens.

This led to fights — a lot of them.

Some of the educators at
192 thought this kid was a borderline troublemaker, and even though his grades and intellectual connection were good, they felt his social connection was bad.

In the late 1970s, 192 was an interesting terrarium. Administrators pushed what they called "Academic Excellence." Most teachers were dedicated educators who dealt with a variety of kids and attitudes. In the classrooms, you could learn if you wanted to, but in the hallways, sidewalks and other common areas, kids were on their own.

The first year in this new school – where kids stole from others and physically and verbally abused those weaker – was a different setting for this boy.

He had an explosive temper and that didn’t help, either. It often turned small matters into big ones. This sometimes put him in the office for discipline. During a particularly difficult time in his life he was sent to the office of a certain dean. She didn’t threaten to call parents, eject him from school or, worse, take him out of the special gifted class he was in. Doing that would cost him another year in school.

She did what few else had done to that point. She listened to the frustrations of a 13-year-old kid who felt isolated among his peers for a number of reasons.

She then explained how she had similar experiences with adjusting to different aspects of school. She gave him a promise of an open door policy to be able to talk to her whenever he felt isolated, angry or just had something to tell her.

She would later encourage him to put his mouth to use for other things besides cursing and yelling. She encouraged him to address students at various ceremonies throughout the years. And even though his grades weren’t at the very top of the class, she made sure he received an award at graduation, in recognition for the work he did for her. She wasn’t alone in helping this kid through that tough school, but certainly she was an important part of his making as a student. In high school he would never again be sitting in an office for fighting or disrespecting teachers.

I’m sure you have guessed by now . . . the kid was a young Gary Anthony Ramsay. The dean was Celestine Miller, whose last name then was Reid. William Harris was our taskmaster, a no-nonsense principal.

These same two names appeared in the paper this week regarding a bid-rigging scandal investigation that allegedly funneled more than a million dollars to Miller and Harris, who are now married to each other.

I cannot tell you how that news pains me. I had heard the rumors about the investigation, and in a rare moment of journalistic shame, I put my head in the ground and hoped for better news to come.

All I can say is that we should allow the full process to move forward before we pass final judgment on Miller.

I know that she has made a lot of enemies during her tenure. I know that School District 29 has had problems, but those problems existed long before her arrival. Rudy Crew never liked her and often referred to her as "Celestial Seasonings." And when she allegedly took part in the cover-up of a kid bringing a gun to school — well, that was it.

It is the good, the bad and the ugly, it seems, of life. People and things change.

But now that Miller isn’t around, let’s see if all the whining about the problems about the district will go away. Let’s see what the new administration does in her wake. Will reading and math scores climb or will they stay the same? What about attendance records, budget expenditures, and incidents of violence? If things stay the same, then the trouble is more systemic than one person.

If indicted or convicted, Miller may be remembered as a person who was caught with her hand in the till. But she was also a person who put her hand in the lives of many children, who aren’t putting their hands in the till because of her.

— Gary Anthony Ramsay is a weekend anchor and
journalist on the all-news cable station NY1
and a long-time resident of Queens.