NEW YORK – A regional manager for the New York City Department of Education and members of her staff took family members on trips for homeless students, an investigator said Monday.

The destinations included Disney World, Washington, DC and New Orleans, among others, and reportedly took place between 2016 and 2019.

Anastasia Coleman, special counsel for the investigation of New York City schools, said her office concluded after an investigation that Queens Students in Temporary Housing regional director Linda Wilson took her family members on trips and allowed other staff members to bring family members as well. They allegedly did this by forging permission slips in the students’ names. The trips were funded by grants intended to help homeless students, Coleman said.

DOE regulations require that all trips must have an educational component and valid permits. The regulations also state that no family members of DOE employees may participate in the trips, even if the DOE receives reimbursement.

Investigators allege that Wilson booked the trips through an outside provider because it was subject to less stringent controls than if she had booked the trips through the Department of Energy.

Wilson allegedly claimed some of the trips were to give the homeless students the opportunity to visit colleges, but investigators said they were told those official visits did not take place and the colleges were not officially notified. For example, during one visit in 2018, they claimed they were touring Syracuse University but only had lunch there and then drove to Niagara Falls.

In her letter to school chancellor David Banks, Coleman called for the dismissal of Wilson and five of her colleagues.