NYC principal apologizes for anti-Israel email to staff after blowback

The Brooklyn principal who urged her staff to demand government sanctions against Israel has privately apologized to them — but only following a public demand by the head of the city school system, The Post has learned.

“As the Principal of a diverse school community who is committed to social justice causes and human rights concerns, I want to apologize for using school email to strongly communicate my personal views and not being as inclusive and mindful of other perspectives as I could have been,” MS 136 Principal Amanda Bueno wrote in an email Saturday that was obtained by The Post.

“It was not my intention to inflame tensions on this sensitive issue. I apologize for any added hurt, anger, or misunderstanding my email may have caused.”

Bueno — whose controversial directive was exclusively revealed by The Post — sent the mea culpa shortly before 5 p.m., according to an MS 136 teacher who was among the recipients.

The move came about four hours after Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter blasted Bueno on Twitter and vowed there would be consequences.

“The MS 136 principal must apologize for her email,” Porter wrote.

“This was a clear exercise of poor judgment & we will take appropriate follow-up action.”

Porter added: “We must teach complex current events without bringing our political activities or beliefs into the classroom.”

On Wednesday, Bueno emailed the teachers and administrators at MS 136, in Sunset Park, amid the 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists who launched rockets at Israeli civilians from the Gaza Strip following clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.

“If you have been watching the news in absolute horror, you are not alone,” Bueno wrote at the time.

“You can take action today by protesting, attending a vigil, making a public commitment to Palestinian Liberation, signing a petition, or calling your government officials to place sanctions on Isreal [sic].”

Her email — which bore the subject line “Day of Action in Solidarity with The Palestinian Uprising & General Strike” — added: “The time is now to take a stand for those impacted by state-sanctioned violence and crimes against the humanity of the most vulnerable in our world.”

Parents interviewed outside the school on Friday uniformly condemned Bueno’s actions, with one saying: “She should remain neutral because in New York, you have so many different groups of people.”

But Bueno was hailed Saturday by outspoken Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour, a co-founder of the “Women’s March” movement who was ousted from the group’s board of directors amid accusations of anti-Semitism.

“We will stand with her and defend her for doing the right thing. We cannot allow our educators to be punished for doing the right thing,” Sarsour wrote on Facebook.

Sarsour also wrote: “Update: I am in touch with Amanda” but Bueno issued her apology 45 minutes later.

On Sunday, Sarsour tweeted at Porter: “We need more principals like Bueno, not less. You will be receiving a letter shortly of hundreds of parents, alumni, teachers and community members in support of Ms. Bueno.”

Manhattan lawyer Inna Vernikov — who last week filed a formal complaint against Bueno —  on Monday sent her a letter saying, “I am also now in possession of the apology letter you sent out.”

“In your apology, you mentioned ‘not being as inclusive and mindful of other perspectives,’ as you could have been,” wrote Vernikov, a Republican candidate for the City Council from southern Brooklyn.

“I would like to request a meeting with you to provide you with that other perspective. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a centuries-old, complex dispute. It is easy for those individuals who don’t live in the Middle East to be misinformed.”  

The Department of Education on Friday said Bueno’s action was “being addressed internally” and referred to the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District.

A DOE spokesperson declined to comment Monday on Bueno’s apology beyond pointing to Porter’s tweet on Saturday.

Bueno didn’t return an email seeking comment.