New York City Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels is under scrutiny as investigators delve into questionable contracts he authorized during his tenure as a district superintendent, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Recent reports indicate that Samuels, while overseeing District 3 on the Upper West Side, entered into a contract with Sean Kreyling, a vendor not approved by the Department of Education (DOE). Allegedly, he circumvented city financial regulations by dividing payments into $25,000 increments.
Kreyling’s companies specialized in supplying temporary foreign-language teachers to city schools. Under his agreements with District 3, he secured two contracts worth $180,000 each — the first signed by Samuels in 2023 and the second by his former Deputy Superintendent, Mariela Graham, in 2024.
Following the 2024 agreement, an oversight by Kreyling’s Language Learning Network resulted in a Spanish teacher, previously banned by the DOE due to sexual misconduct allegations, being placed in two city schools.
This incident prompted an investigation by the Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI), which concluded that the schools’ principals were at fault for failing to properly screen the teacher.
However, the SCI’s June 2025 report did not attribute any liability to Samuels, instead holding Graham accountable and recommending her dismissal. Kreyling has accused the SCI of shielding Samuels, suggesting a cover-up to protect a prominent Mamdani appointee.
Instead of terminating Graham, Samuels promoted her to a $225,571-per-year post as the DOE’s senior executive director of strategy.
Samuels earns $363,000 a year, raking in more than even Mayor Mamdani.
Kreyling told The Post he informed SCI of the Samuels’ signed contract during their initial investigation and offered to share all materials then, but they never followed up.
Kreyling said he has spent the last week trying to sound the alarm to City Hall officials â including emailing First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan and messaging Mayor Mamdani on social media â but has gotten no response.
“I had a lot of hope in Mamdani, and I’m very disappointed,” Kreyling said, “I was hoping we could at least come together on protecting kids.”
Humiliated SCI officials finally reached out to Kreyling Friday, and asked to see his documents.
“Please provide everything you think is relevant, even if it was previously provided to one of our investigators (all contracts, emails, invoices, payments from DOE, etc.),” SCI attorney David Casanova wrote Kreyling, according to the message obtained by The Post.
Casanova said he would review the documents and “possibly” schedule a follow-up meeting with Kreyling.
SCI officials would not confirm Samuels is now under investigation, but high-ranking education sources said Tweed Hall has been at “DEFCON 1” since The Post’s report and are reacting as if Mamdani’s handpicked schools chief is being probed.
“They’re completely freaked out at the DOE. If SCI is calling witnesses for documents, that means they’re investigating Samuels,” a City Hall insider said.
“City Hall is scrambling, asking about the contract and grant funding. . . . I heard [Samuels] met with his team to brush it under the rug. . . . he hopes this blows over and he is not held accountable,” according to a well-placed DOE source.
Mamdani’s team allegedly told Samuels to “lay low,” the DOE insider said.
Samuels paid Kreyling from a government grant his district received for foreign language instruction, but the chancellor prematurely terminated the contract in March 2025, records show.
The DOE has not responded to The Post’s inquiries about what happened to the remaining, unspent grant funds.
Manhattan-based civil and criminal litigator Jason Goldman said the embattled schools chief could face criminal charges.
“If there was a deliberate effort to bypass the city’s financial safeguards, that could potentially lead to criminal exposure from a public corruption standpoint,” Goldman explained.
Samuels could be charged with defrauding the DOE, submitting contracts that misrepresented the true nature of the transaction, and for engaging in official misconduct, he added.
Federal wire fraud charges over possible electronic payments sent to Kreyling, and emails in which he discussed the payment-splitting scheme, could also result, the lawyer said.
In one email obtained by The Post, Samuels writes that he understands Kreyling is not an approved vendor and suggests a workaround.
“This could be much more than just a paperwork or ethics issue,” Goldman said.
City Hall declined to comment.
