‘Can’t touch me’: Teacher fired for excessive student contact gloats over new teaching job

A New York City teacher who was fired for excessive contact and inappropriate behavior with high school students is boasting about being hired to teach at another school.

Dulaina Almonte was terminated from her position at Harry S. Truman High School in 2020 after a report by the Special Commissioner of Investigation revealed she had sent nearly 30,000 messages late at night to two underage students.

Phone records showed Almonte sent 28,075 texts to a 17-year-old female student over the course of 14 months and shared 1,900 messages with a 12th grade male student, according to The Daily Mail. The teenagers reportedly visited Almonte’s home on several occasions.

The New York City Police Department also launched an investigation into Almonte after a student alleged Almonte and a former student were “involved in sex acts,” but no arrest was ever made.

Almonte claims the results of the investigation were “completely false” and is now teaching Spanish at AEI 2: NYC Charter High School for Engineering and Innovation.

In an interview with The New York Post, Almonte even boasted about her new teaching position.

“I can’t be guilty if I’m still a teacher,” Almonte said. “It’s not a crime, but still got fired, which is honestly why the DOE can suck a big pr**k. Still a teacher! Can’t touch me!

“Still a teacher working elsewhere. Like, you really can’t f**king touch me.”  

The New York Department of Education is also facing scrutiny for not doing more to prevent fired teachers from being hired in other schools. 

In Almonte’s case, the results of the SCI investigation were sent to the state education department., but there is no record of a disciplinary hearing. 

“No paper trail follows teachers state to state unless they’re convicted and it shows up in a [criminal] background check,” said Billie-Jo Grant, a researcher and consultant for SESAME, a group which targets educator sexual abuse, according to The Daily Mail.  

Grant claims fewer than 5% of school administrators nationwide report sexual misconduct to law enforcement. 

“There’s a lot of motivation to not have it on the front page of the paper,” Grant added. 

Derick Spaulding, CEO of AECI 2 told The Post all employees must pass a fingerprint authorization before they can work for the school.  

The accusation would not have been revealed with a fingerprint check as no criminal charges were filed. 

Spaulding said he wasn’t aware of the details in Almonte’s case.