Teacher at prestigious Manhattan High School, 37, had 'inappropriate relationship' with male student, 17, who she led into a locked bathroom then handed a wad of cash to
- Shoshana Leffler spent seven minutes in a locked bathroom stall with the teen at the High School for Health Careers and Sciences
- The Princeton graduate and PhD scientist was later filmed handing him a wad of cash on a school stairwell
- Investigators concluded she was 'engaged in an inappropriate relationship' and she resigned
A high-flying teacher at a Manhattan high school has refused to explain what she was doing in a locked staff bathroom stall with a 17-year-old pupil, or why she later handed him a wad of cash in a stairwell.
Shoshana Leffler, 37, remains licensed to teach after resigning from the High School for Health Careers and Sciences last year rather than face questions over the seven-minute tryst that was partially caught on surveillance video.
But investigators have concluded the Princeton University graduate 'engaged in an inappropriate relationship' with the boy who should have been in class at the time.
'What occurred in the bathroom can only be speculated about since Leffler resigned from the DOE without providing an explanation,' said Anastasia Coleman, the special commissioner of investigation for city schools.
Leffler and her twin brother Abba were child prodigies at the prestigious Bronx High School of Science.
Shoshana Leffler pictured in 2008 during her time as a scientist at Princeton University
'These are the students who, God willing, will find cures for diseases and will be our political leaders,' then-Bronx Science Principal Valerie Reidy told The Post in 2005.
Shoshana went on to publish academic papers, earning a PhD from New York University with a dissertation on brain cell development.
In 2019 she began work for the city's Department of Education, later taking a job as a chemistry teacher at the high school in Fort George.
But in February last year video spotted Leffler deep in conversation with the 17-year-old for more than 30 minutes in a school stairwell when the teen 'should have been in class.'
Seconds later, the pair are admonished for the unscheduled chat by a passing assistant principal who tells her to 'go to the guidance office to get support if it was needed' for the student.
Instead, they went to another stairwell before Leffler led the student up to the fifth floor where she 'sought out a private room where security cameras could not record them.'
The chemistry teacher led the 17-year-old up to a bathroom on the fifth floor of Manhattan's High School for Health Careers and Sciences before locking the door
Anastasia Coleman, the special commissioner of investigation for city schools, concluded 'engaged in an inappropriate relationship' with the boy
The pair disappeared inside a staff bathroom with a lockable door but were interrupted after seven minutes when another staff member tried the door and found it locked from the inside.
The pair emerged separately moments later but were filmed together again in the stairwell the following day where Leffler was recorded 'handing (him) what appeared to be money, him pocketing this money, and them leaving the stairwell together'.
An investigation began but no record of contact between the teacher and the student was found on their phones, and the teen's mother refused to allow him to be interviewed.
Leffler refused to be questioned and has had a 'problem code' attached to her Department of Education file, which would be seen by any other schools in the city that might employ her.
Investigators at the SCI have passed their report to the New York state Department of Education but she remains licensed to teach.
Dailymail.com has reached out to Leffler and the SCI for comment.
