‘Fake Principal’ Rakes In $192K In Taxpayer Dollars For A School That Doesn’t Exist

New York City taxpayers are shelling out $192,374 to the “project director” of a new high school that does not — and will not — exist, the New York Post reported.

Caleb Haraguchi-Combs formerly served as the vice principal for Manhattan Center for Science & Mathematics, a high school in East Harlem. In January 2026, New York City tapped Haraguchi-Combs to serve as project director for Next Generation Technology High School. Project directors often become principals for schools upon their completion, and Haraguchi-Combs’s salary was raised from $141,960 to $192,374 to match the pay of an acting principal, according to the Post.

The proposed school was designed to focus on artificial intelligence, but was axed by city officials in April over its planned merit-based admissions policy that activists deemed would “exacerbate racial inequality.” Notably, New York City hosts several public schools with restrictive merit-based admissions processes, including American Studies and the Bronx High School of Science.

Haraguchi-Combs has continued to earn a salary for his role as project director, the Post said. He declined to tell the Post where he currently works. According to the Post, the New York City Department of Education typically retains project directors whose projects “do not exist.”

New York City officials “never should have named a principal before the school was approved,” a source told the Post. Insiders are allegedly “fuming over the waste of taxpayer money — and questioned why Haraguchi-Combs simply couldn’t be sent to work at another school.”

Haraguchi-Combs’ LinkedIn says he still serves as the project director for the now defunct project. “My work emphasizes a human-centered vision of technology education: preparing students not simply to use emerging technologies, but to understand how they work, critically evaluate their societal and environmental impacts, and build solutions that advance the public good,” his LinkedIn reads. “The model integrates competency-based learning, interdisciplinary project-based instruction, civic action, industry partnerships, and authentic community problem-solving.”

The would-be — or would-not-be — principal also has a bit of a side-hustle: Cal Combs, his alter ego and rapper name, produced two albums. His lyrics feature references to consuming a combination of cocaine and alcohol.

“One more bump on that key/one more drink and I’m free/one more shot to forget/ how much I hate me,” he raps in his 2017 song “Roundabouts.”

The Daily Wire could not yet identify whether his former employers, including the Fordham High School For The Arts, J.H.S. 118 William W. Niles School, or the Manhattan Center for Science & Mathematics, were aware of Haraguchi-Combs’ rapping career or the activity it appears to describe.

Haraguchi-Combs has a bachelor’s in English/Language Arts Teacher Education from Eastern Kentucky University and a master’s in School Building Leadership from Fordham University.

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