BRADFORD, Vt. (AP) – Despite reassurances from school officials, sixth grade students at Bradford Elementary School feel betrayed in the aftermath of the arrest of their teacher on charges he sexually molested two former students, an official said.

Richard A. Foster, 51, is charged with four felony sex crimes following a discovery by the parents of a 12-year-old boy that Foster sent sexually explicit photos of himself with his cell phone, police said.

Foster remained hospitalized Tuesday after a suicide attempt in which he slashed his wrists, authorities said.

“The kids have expressed a collective sense of betrayal,” said schools superintendent Wendy Hovey. “They wonder if the compassion for students that teachers show is fake in some way.

“We talked about that and assured them, ‘No, it isn’t fake and it probably wasn’t fake in Mr. Foster,” she said.

A meeting of school officials, police and parents was planned for Tuesday night at Oxbow Union High School.

One of students’ biggest concerns is about school dances and a unit in their medieval studies class many had been looking forward to, Hovey said.

“There isn’t anything that you guys have been looking forward to that isn’t going to happen,” Hovey said they were told.

In this town of about 3,000 along the Connecticut River, many are in disbelief over the arrest of Foster, a popular teacher at the 250-student school for children in grades kindergarten through 6.

“He never came off as the kind of person who would be like that,” said former student Robert Plante, 18, “I didn’t believe it.”

Plante said he had urged his father and stepmother to have a conversation with his younger sibling, who also had Plante. “I don’t know if anything happened. I sure hope not,” Plante said.

Foster was arrested Saturday after police in Florida alerted the Vermont State Police after the parents of one alleged victim found sexual images on their son’s cell phone that had been sent by Foster, police said.

On Tuesday Foster remained at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., where he was listed in fair condition, a hospital official said.

When he is well enough to be released, he will be arrested by New Hampshire authorities and then taken before a judge for extradition proceedings. If he waives extradition, he could be back in Vermont within 24 hours, said Vermont State Police Detective Lt. J.P. Sinclair.

If convicted of the most serious charge, Foster could be sentenced to life in prison.

A court affidavit said police had recovered a videotape that showed a third young person engaged in a sex act. Sinclair said that person had been identified, but police weren’t ready to file additional charges.

Sinclair said school officials were attempting to reach former students of Foster’s to see if there were other victims.

Foster has been placed on administrative leave with pay while the case is resolved.

Hovey said the community was shocked by the charges against Foster, but many people were working to help students.

“We’re just trying to put one foot in front of the other,” Hovey said. “We’re focusing on the kids.”

“Nobody would have thought anybody could have been involved with this,” said Richard Darling, whose wife is a para-educator at the school. “There was a lot of upset at first. It will pass.”

AP-ES-09-18-07 1738EDT