Judge: Lovelorn Teacher Merits Harsher Punishment
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
A 90-day unpaid suspension is too light a punishment for a high school teacher who admitted online that she sought to seduce a 15-year-old male student, a judge has ruled.
An arbitrator had recommended the penalty for a tenured teacher at Staten Island’s New Dorp High School, Colleen McGraham, who wondered in her blog in June 2005, “Will I ever get over this? Do I want to? I just love him so much.”
A State Supreme Court justice, Sheila Abdus-Salaam, said the arbitrator’s recommendation of a 90-day unpaid suspension was “irrational” and “violates a strong public policy” to protect children.
The judge sent the case back for a new penalty.
There was no physical relationship between Ms. McGraham, 39, and the student. Prosecutors said Ms. McGraham, who was 36 during the encounters in 2005, sent the 11th grader e-mails, called him, and spoke to him in an attempt to seduce him. But the student instead reported Ms. McGraham to another teacher, who then told education officials. The Department of Education will seek to have Ms. McGraham fired during an upcoming hearing, a spokeswoman, Margie Feinberg, said.
