Teachers and administrators in SAD 52 are pleased with the progress of this group.

On Friday, June 30, Sun Journal readers opened their local paper to a front page article with a most incendiary headline. “Greene parents: 1st-graders gone wild” certainly grabbed the attention of virtually every reader with a child at Greene Central School. For that matter, it probably grabbed the attention of every parent with a student in School Administrative District 52.

In the article, the Sun Journal noted parent Sandy Laliberte’s concerns and her statement that she felt she could not send her child back to Greene Central School this fall. The report was accurate in the statements regarding the specific issues that were raised by Ms. Laliberte.

However, the article also reported that Principal Thomas Martellone had stated that seven to eight first-graders had been suspended from school during the year and that the progress in student conduct over the course of the year had gone from “threatening” to “disruptive.” Unfortunately, neither of those two statements was entirely accurate.

In addition, a significant number of omissions from the article regarding the board discussion that evening gave readers a very distorted view of parental complaints. Filling in those omissions would have presented a much more balanced view of what transpired and also likely would have relegated the story to some other position in the paper with a vastly different headline.

In responding to the complaints raised by two parents of first-graders, Principal Martellone made it clear that the teachers of the two classes saw this situation very differently. In fact, those teachers stated unequivocally that at all times consistent protocols were followed when any inappropriate behaviors occurred.

Not only were the lack of safety concerns dispelled, in speaking to the school board, Mr. Martellone described a very bright, albeit active, class that he had grown very fond of the past two years. Mr. Martellone did attest to the fact that many of these students did present “attending behaviors” that consistently challenged the two teachers on a daily basis. However, Principal Martellone also spoke with pride of the enormous progress this group of students had made during the year, both in the realm of their behavior as well as their academics. He also praised the teachers for the hard work and dedication they had displayed.

Mr. Martellone also spoke of the academic progress of the class as a whole. He was extremely positive about this group of students and the work that they and their teachers had accomplished this year. In making that statement, Mr. Martellone referred to specific reading data that had been collected as part of the school’s Reading First Grant. Those results demonstrated that the first-grade class at Greene Central had made the largest academic gains of any class at the school this year.

Unfortunately, anyone reading the Sun Journal article would likely have a different view of these children. More important, I can’t help but wonder how the parents of first-graders at Greene Central School felt when they saw that headline. Most likely they felt extremely embarrassed, perhaps even downright angry, by this public portrayal of their child, as part of a group of students, being labeled as a member of a class of “1st-graders gone wild.”

To all of the teachers and staff at Greene Central School, as well as the students of Greene Central, Mr. Martellone and I applaud each and every one for a great year. To all of the parents we add that we are pleased, each and every day, to have the opportunity to work with the wonderful children from the town of Greene, and to be a part of their academic and social development.

To our local newspaper, we respectfully ask that it give a more accurate portrayal of our students in the future – especially when choosing to write about first-graders.

Thomas J. Hanson is the superintendent of schools for SAD 52 in Greene, Turner and Leeds.