Concord School Superintendent: Letter To Staff 'A Serious Error'

CONCORD, NH — Concord's school superintendent has written a letter to parents, guardians, and district staff, apologizing for comments made last week in a letter to staff that criticized media coverage of the district in the wake of a teacher rape investigation. The district sent out the letter by Terri Forsten Thursday. In it, she called her Aug. 22 letter to staff that praised them but chastised reports in the Concord Monitor and on social media in the wake of Primo "Howie" Leung being arrested on rape and other charges "a serious error."

In that first letter, Forsten called the coverage "a dribble of articles and posts that have presented singular perspectives and have negatively impacted some of the community's viewpoint of our schools and work." Hours after the letter began circulating online, parents started a petition to have Forsten and Tom Sica, Concord High School's principal, who is currently on leave, removed from the district.

That petition has garnered nearly 2,300 signatures in about a five days.

"It was not my intent to discount the news or the community’s reaction to what has been reported," Forsten said. "More importantly, I did not mean for my words to be in any way dismissive or discouraging of our students and their experiences. My letter did not convey how seriously I take these events. I am deeply sorry that I chose my words so poorly."

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Forsten told parents that SAU 8 employees were "very busy" preparing for the first days of school this week and that she was proud of everyone who was showing "dedication and unwavering support of each other and our students" adding that this was "most impressive." The district, she added, had undergone professional learning and training to create a safe environment for students. Forsten said the district had also changed its policies and would continue to review and update practices to support and enhance student safety and security.

"As our high school administrators so eloquently wrote in a letter to high school parents and guardians earlier this week – 'the events of the past do reflect on us, but do not define us.' I couldn’t agree more," she said, "and I remain committed to helping our students and our community work through these challenging times together."

The letter to parents and staffs comes about 18 hours after the Board of Education held its second nonpublic meeting with legal counsel in three days.

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