NY Principal Commits Suicide Amidst Testing Irregularities Investigation
TCCS Principal Worrell-Breeden
By Candi Peterson, WTU Gen. Vice President
Statements or expressions of opinions herein 'do not' represent the views or official positions of DCPS, AFT, Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) or its members. Views are my own.
One of my worst twenty-something memories was a visit to my best friend after her boyfriend committed suicide in their apartment. He shot himself in the head on the bedroom floor. When I arrived to help my friend retrieve her belongings, I vividly remember seeing the large pool of blood matted into the carpet. The impact of this man’s decision to end his life stayed with me for many years to come.
Those memories came rushing back when I heard about the forty-nine year old Harlem principal who took her life by jumping in front of a NY subway train.
Those memories came rushing back when I heard about the forty-nine year old Harlem principal who took her life by jumping in front of a NY subway train.
Principal Jeanene Worrell-Breeden committed suicide in April of this year. According to the NY Post, “around 9:20 a.m. April 17, Worrell-Breeden walked onto the platform at the subway station at 135th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem and threw herself in front on an oncoming train. She was rushed to the hospital, where she would die eight days later (April 25th) from her injuries. The medical examiner ruled Worrell-Breeden's death a suicide.”
According to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 1/3 of all suicides are from hanging. Subway related suicides are the least likely form of suicide and represent 7% of suicides in New York City. Men are far more likely to attempt suicide via subway than women.
The aftermath of Worrell-Breeden’s suicide sucks for everyone she leaves behind. Her family, her colleagues, her school community- her students and their parents.
Worrell-Breedon was the founding principal of Teachers Community College, an elementary school in West Harlem. A tribute to honor the popular principal is listed on the school’s web page. It reads- “Principal Breeden was a tireless champion for all of the children of TCCS, and she will be greatly missed.”
Worrell-Breeden was a highly accomplished career educator, graduate of Penn. State, held two master’s degrees (from NY City College and Fordham) with 20 years of experience in NY City public schools and served as a The Washington Teacher: NY Principal Commits Suicide Amidst Testing Irregularities Investigation: