U.S. News

Woman, 28, Posed as a 16-Year-Old Student at a Bronx High School for Two Weeks

By Erica Coleman · May 8, 2026

For two weeks, Kacy Claassen attended classes at Westchester Square Academy in the Bronx. She had a school ID. Her name on the records was Shamara Rashad. Her listed date of birth made her 16 years old.

She is 28.

Claassen enrolled at the school on April 13, telling Principal Marques Rich that she had just moved to New York from Ohio with her sister and needed to finish high school. Nothing about her appearance apparently triggered immediate suspicion — she attended classes alongside actual teenagers for fourteen days before something shifted.

The principal started asking questions. He found her Facebook page.

The profile listed her real name, Kacy Claassen. Her birthday: July 29, 1997. Her profile described a “beautiful daughter” and included photos of her holding a toddler-aged girl spanning years of posts. The woman sitting in front of him in a Bronx high school classroom was not a 16-year-old from Ohio. She was a 28-year-old from Hays, Kansas — with what appeared to be a child of her own, and a documented online history that predated the founding of the school’s current ninth grade class.

When Rich confronted her with the screenshot, Claassen initially maintained her cover, insisting she was Shamara Rashad and had come to New York with her sister. Then he showed her the Facebook photo. “I lied about my identity because my friend forced me to,” she told him, according to the criminal complaint. “She was using me to receive more public assistance.”

The school called 911 for possible identity theft. Officers arrived and arrested Claassen on the campus without incident. The six-school Lehman High School complex — where Westchester Square Academy is located — was placed on hold, meaning every student and staff member had to remain in their classrooms and offices until police cleared the scene.

Investigators believe the case is connected to a benefits fraud scheme, though the specific public assistance benefits Claassen was allegedly trying to access through high school enrollment have not been confirmed. Police sources noted that it was unclear exactly how attending a public high school would increase someone’s benefits eligibility — a question Claassen’s explanation did not fully resolve.

In one additional detail the New York Post reported: investigators are not certain she even has a child. The toddler who appears in multiple photos across her social media accounts has not been independently confirmed to be her daughter.

Claassen was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, criminal impersonation, possession of a forged instrument, and criminal trespassing. She pleaded not guilty and was released without bail. She is due back in court on June 1.

NYC Schools issued a statement describing enrollment fraud as “a serious crime that fundamentally undermines New York City Public School values” and said the school was reviewing its enrollment verification procedures.