#NYC’s Beacon High School tried to hold 2020 diplomas hostage

This NYC high school tried to hold its graduates’ diplomas hostage.

Beacon High School in Manhattan sent three emails since last month, asking the parents of 350 students who graduated in June to come into the school to pick up their kids’ diplomas in person — and to clean out their old lockers while they were at it.

The popular Hell’s Kitchen school also warned it would withhold diplomas if students did not return any laptops they borrowed after March 13, when schools shut down amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

“I wouldn’t go in there with a f–king hazmat suit,” one mom told The Post. “This is a detachment from reality. Our children are out of town in college and can’t attend to Beacon’s leftover housekeeping.”

The Beacon emails said parents could pick up the diplomas only after Oct. 13 between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. — and to come wearing a mask and disposable gloves.

“There will be a wait time, so please be patient with us. We will do our best to get everyone in and out of the building in a timely manner.”

After The Post asked the Department of Education about Beacon’s demands, officials quickly ordered the school to mail the 2020 diplomas if parents or students request it.

“Information went out to Beacon graduates and their families erroneously informing them that diplomas cannot be mailed and that they must turn in devices to receive their diploma – this is being corrected,” a spokesman said. Diplomas “will not be withheld in lieu of a return.”

Beacon sent another email saying it would mail the diplomas, but still offered parents the option of picking them up — as well as clearing belongings from lockers.

The Beacon mom is disgusted. “The school should bag the items from the lockers and give parents appointments for curbside pickup. This was done in many suburban school districts over the summer before students started college, and to sanitize the lockers before new kids arrive.”

The 1,400-student Beacon is one of the city’s most competitive to get in. Longtime principal Ruth Lacey, who retired in August, sanctioned student sit-ins for social justice while the affluent PTA raised $700,000 in 2018 with the help of celebrities who had kids in the school, The Post reported.

She was replaced by Brady Smith, a former English teacher and principal of the alternative James Baldwin School in Chelsea.