Principal apologizes for smoking at school
PROVIDENCE, R.I., March 25 (UPI) -- A Providence high school principal who suspended a student for posting a picture of her smoking on his Web site has apologized to the student body.
Eliazar Velasquez, 17, caught Elaine Almagno lighting up on the grounds of Central High School, a violation both of Rhode Island state law and school district policy, the Providence Journal reported. She ordered him to remove the photograph from his Web site and suspended him when he refused.
On Tuesday, the sophomore was offered reinstatement but only if he complied with the removal order. On Wednesday, Superintendent of Schools Melody Johnson went public, saying that Almagno, "a veteran administrator with a 25-year unblemished record," had made a mistake.
Johnson said that she ordered Central High officials to remove the suspension from Velasquez's record and that Almagno had apologized over the intercom for smoking on school grounds.
Velasquez told the newspaper that, when he returned to school, the vice principal advised him to find some better way of expressing disagreements and that Almagno did not speak to him at all.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
Post a Comment