In a letter sent home with students the Friday before Election Day, the principal of an East Bronx public school called on parents to support the Democratic incumbent in a hotly contested state Senate race. Another official at the school used her city government email address to solicit campaign volunteers for the same candidate.

In the letter, the principal of Public School 71, Lance Cooper, credits City Council Member James Vacca and state Senator Jeffrey Klein with helping the school secure new computers after several units were stolen last month. The “Dear Parents” letter also praises the two politicians for assisting “with the funding of the Science Lab, which is now operational.”

The letter, a scanned version of which was e-mailed to The New York Sun, reads: “With their support and intervention P.S. 71 can continue to be the excellent school that it has always been. So it is my sincere hope, that we endorse these Community Leaders when they need our support as a way of always saying thank you for always being there for P.S. 71!”

Mr. Klein, a Democrat who represents portions of the Bronx and lower Westchester County, faces the Bronx Republican chairman, Joseph Savino, in tomorrow’s election.

While labor unions representing teachers and administrators regularly endorse candidates, individual Department of Education employees “shall maintain a posture of neutrality with respect to all candidates,” while on duty or in contact with students, according to the Chancellor’s Regulations. Using school equipment to produce political materials and disseminating campaign-related literature in any school building are forbidden. “The principal is responsible for ensuring that unauthorized material is not posted, distributed or displayed” according to the regulations.

Mr. Cooper could not be reached for comment yesterday. A spokeswoman for the Department of Education, Kelly Devers, said if the letter had been sent by the principal, it would be an apparent violation of the Chancellor’s Regulations. She noted that the department had not authenticated the letter, but said it was looking into the matter.

Mr. Savino said he saw the letter Friday afternoon while campaigning outside the school. He said he was troubled that it “was distributed on school property, during school hours, using school computers and school letterhead.” Mr. Savino, who was endorsed by Mayor Bloomberg, said he hoped the principal did not write the letter in response to any political pressure.

A campaign spokeswoman for Mr. Klein, Taryn Duffy, said the state senator did not know that the letter would be sent. “We have always maintained a wall of separation between his role as a New York state senator, and his campaign — and we would ask everybody else to do the same,” she said.

The school’s parent coordinator, Renee Reilly, said the letter sounded like an expression of “sincere gratitude,” and was not overtly political.”Maybe it was bad timing,” Ms. Reilly said. “Whether it’s Christmas or Election Day, you thank people at the time of an event. You don’t wait until it’s politically correct to do it.”

Referring to Mr. Vacca and Ms. Klein, she added: “They’ve helped us with our science lab, and they helped us replace stolen laptops. Anybody who is going to help out children, how can you not be grateful and want to help them back?”

In an e-mail sent last week from her Department of Education address, Ms. Reilly, who lives in Pelham Bay, solicited volunteers to distribute campaign literature on Mr. Klein’s behalf. “Senator Jeff Klein’s office contacted me looking for volunteers on ‘Election Day’ to hand out flyers in front of PS71, depending on the shift you are available a meal will be provided. If you are interested please contact me and I will forward your name to the Senator. Thank you,” the e-mail said.