NEW YORK: A New York City teacher has received a warning letter from city authorities after making her students write Christmas cards to a friend serving time in prison.
The cards contained the children’s names and, in some cases, addresses. A corrections officer intercepted them.
The New York Times reports that Melissa Dean escaped harsher punishment because she resigned in June.
She told her class in December to write the cards to people who were lonely. Instead, she sent the cards to a friend, John Coccarelli, serving time for illegal weapons possession.
Prosecutors say he was also charged with possessing child pornography, but it was not brought to trial because he pleaded guilty to a charge calling for a longer sentence.
US teacher scolded for making kids write to inmate
