I owe an apology to the staff and students of Montello School for using the word “failing.” (Sept. 5) It was unnecessarily inflammatory, and I used it because I was upset, and I did not know all the facts.

At the time I used the word, I had no first-hand experience with Montello and my only information about the test score situation came from the letter I received the day before I sent my daughter there for the first time. The letter suggested that schoolwide math scores were 2 percent below the minimum standard, and I just couldn’t see how a moderate percentage of immigrant students (who I know are extremely hard-working and fiercely committed to education) could make that big a difference in math scores.

I agree diversity is beneficial. In fact, this was one of the things I was excited about when preparing my daughter, Sawyer, for Montello. I considered asking for Farwell, which is closer to our home, but decided since I was moving her because of test scores, it made sense to move her into the school with the best scores. Sawyer loved her teacher and class at Montello, and I’m sure she will love her teacher and class at Pettingill just as much.

I guess I’ll never know for certain whether I did the right thing by moving her, but I had to act on the information I had at the time.

Karen Lane, Lewiston