Posted: November 2, 2007

The following letter was mailed to the community on Wednesday, October 31, 2007:

Dear Greeley Parents,

            This letter follows the earlier one regarding school dances.  This past Friday, October 26^th, I called all of our students into the gym to explain why it is necessary to cancel our dances, with the exception of the Senior Prom, for the remainder of this year.   

            In my seven years as an administrator at Greeley, I have overseen more than twenty dances.  We have suspended students for being under the influence of alcohol following virtually every one (different students every time). Each time we have suspended what is typically a handful of students we are assured by those students and others that there were far more who we didn’t catch.  Students and parents continue to tell us about those pre- and post-dance gatherings in student homes where alcohol is consumed. 

            During those same seven years, I have watched our student council work incredibly hard to convince their peers not to drink before coming to a dance.  They have brought in outside speakers, used anonymous student voices to tell true stories of the damage done by alcohol, and made their own impassioned pleas for safe and responsible behavior.  For its part, the administration has stepped up its own proactive measures by instituting the use of a breathalyzer, increasing the number of chaperones, having police and EMT’s present, banning bags, and barring students who have previously been caught under the influence from attending future dances.  This is all in addition to what has been our consistent practice of suspending from school those students who have been caught under the influence of alcohol.  Despite these steps, we have already suspended Greeley students for being under the influence of alcohol at two school dances this fall. 

            Given this history, it is clear that without a dramatic change we could expect students to be under the influence at a next dance.  Therefore, bringing 800 or more students into our darkened gym would continue to risk tragedy.  It is not an environment we can easily supervise and close supervision is clearly required.   We will run alternative events on the nights already scheduled for dances this year, and I have invited students to join us in planning events that all can safely enjoy. 

            I closed on Friday by reminding our students of the meeting we held in our gym just two weeks earlier to honor and celebrate Sam Powell, our junior who had just returned from a bronze medal winning performance with Team USA’s softball team at the Special Olympics in Shanghai.  On that day our senior class initiated a spontaneous standing ovation and inspired the entire school to follow suit.  Faculty approached me immediately following to say they had never been prouder of our students.  Those moments, when our students show their very best selves, are the ones we’re looking to replicate.  Those are the experiences we want your children learning from throughout their years at Horace Greeley. 

                                                                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                                                                        Andrew Selesnick