NYC high school aide fired after lunchtime sex with student; second aide under SCI probe

A former city Department of Education aide at The Urban Assembly Early College High School of Emergency Medicine in Manhattan was fired after investigators concluded she had sex with a student during lunch breaks on multiple occasions. Ocean Valentine, then 22, first approached a 17-year-old student at the Pearl Street campus in May 2022, telling him she was active on Instagram, according to a newly released report by the Special Commissioner of Investigation for NYC Schools (SCI).

Investigators said the two began exchanging messages on Instagram, then moved to texting after Valentine shared her phone number. The SCI report details that their initial encounter occurred during a lunch period in which they left the school, still in session, and walked to the student’s apartment across the street from the campus. The two then had at least two additional lunch-hour trysts, including one at Sharks, a pool hall, where investigators say they celebrated the student’s 18th birthday. The misconduct was not limited to a single venue; investigators describe a pattern of lunch-hour departures from the school for sexual activity.

The case came to light after a female classmate reportedly saw some of the texts on the student’s phone and noticed a hotel receipt image in one of the messages. She told an official at The Urban Assembly school, prompting investigators to begin reviewing the student’s communications in early 2023. As they examined text messages on the student’s phone, Valentine separately reached out to him, asking, “What’s going on?” About ten days later, the student provided investigators with screenshots showing missed calls from “Ocean” at 10:07 p.m. and 10:08 p.m. The SCI subsequently confirmed the calls on Valentine’s phone records, which showed 34 contacts between Valentine and the student, including six calls after 7:00 p.m. and six on weekends, underscoring a pattern of late and outside-hours communications.

Valentine was suspended without pay pending the SCI findings. Public records show a city salary of $34,415 in 2023, with an after-tax take-home of $15,250 before her dismissal by the Department of Education. In a separate case at the same school, the New York Post confirmed that a male aide is also the subject of an SCI probe for alleged sexual contact with a female pupil, who also accused the aide of stealing $5,000 from her. The final report on that case had not been released as of the SCI’s publication.

In Valentine’s case, SCI Anastasia Coleman recommended an update to the DOE’s social media policy to bar employees from contacting students on such accounts or on personal cell phones. Coleman has made this recommendation dozens of times in recent years, but the DOE has yet to amend the policy. The DOE did not respond to requests for comment, and Valentine could not be reached for comment.

The Urban Assembly School for Emergency Management at 411 Pearl Street is one of several DOE campuses the SCI monitors. The investigation’s timeline—spanning from May 2022, when Valentine first initiated contact with the student, through the early months of 2023 when investigators obtained phone records—is cited in the SCI report as the basis for the disciplinary action and policy recommendations. The case has intensified scrutiny of staff-student interactions and underscored ongoing debates in New York City about safeguarding measures, particularly regarding personal devices and social media use by school personnel.

Beyond the disciplinary actions, the SCI’s findings have widened the conversation about campus safety policies. The department has previously reviewed and revised social media guidance for staff, including prohibiting direct contact with students via personal social media profiles. Yet administrators have faced persistent questions about how to enforce these rules consistently across thousands of employees and a broad network of schools. The SCI’s recommendations, while not new, place renewed pressure on the DOE to formalize and implement safeguards designed to prohibit inappropriate communications that could enable exploitation or abuse.

The investigation’s revelations also raise questions about how schools monitor lunchtime activities and events outside traditional instructional hours. School leaders and investigators emphasized that protections must extend beyond the classroom and that staffers must adhere to strict boundaries with students, especially when young people cross the line from school peer to social contact with adults in positions of authority. As this case unfolds, education officials remain focused on ensuring accountability and safeguarding all students’ wellbeing while continuing to refine policies that govern staff conduct in and outside of school settings.