N.Y. Schools Chief Is Ousted By Board, 4-3

The Board of Education voted Wednesday to oust Chancellor Joseph A. Fernandez, who insisted that condoms be available in high schools and tried to teach grade-school students to be tolerant of homosexuals.

“Good luck, God bless you. Maybe we didn’t deserve you,” Carl H. McCall, president of the Board of Education, told Fernandez after the board voted 4 to 3 not to renew his contract with the nation’s largest school district.

Fernandez sat quietly as the board voted after nearly seven hours of comments during which elected officials and parents made impassioned speeches, most on his behalf.

Asked if he had any advice for his successor, he told reporters: “Probably, don’t come.”

Fernandez received a standing ovation from the crowd.

“Yes, I have made mistakes,” he said after the vote. “But I have fought for children. I will always put their welfare ahead of political or special interests.”

Board member Carol Gresser, considered the swing vote on Fernandez, was near tears when she confirmed that she would vote against extending his contract beyond June 30.

Fernandez took the $195,000-a-year job in January, 1990. But his efforts in the school system with 970,000 students were dogged by seemingly endless battles over his controversial proposals.

Fernandez, 57, supported a condom distribution plan in high schools and backed a program to teach grade-school children tolerance of homosexuals.

Parents in several neighborhoods angrily challenged Fernandez on both fronts.

“You have forgotten these kids are not yours. They are ours,” said parent Willie Alfonso. “You say my boy will get a condom when I say no. . . . I want to wish you well. I want to wish you well somewhere else.”