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Schools

Leaked Attorney Letter Investigation Remains Inconclusive

Superintendent calls issue a dead end.

The investigation into who leaked a letter concerning confidential teacher contract negotiations in April is inconclusive and is a dead issue, according to interim superintendent Neil Lederer.

"They couldn't find proof. It's unfortunate – it caused us a great deal of grief and gave some real misinformation. The document was inaccurate, and people are still quoting it," Lederer said.

The inaccuracy was due to a misunderstanding on the part of the attorney who wrote it, he said, and was no longer valid two hours after it was received by the board as the negotiations changed with further discussion.

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The document, which Lederer called "rubbish," was only received by a handful of people, yet no computer could be identified as that from which it was leaked.

The investigation was conducted by Alpha Group, a private security company hired by the district's law firm, Lamb & Barnosky. Interviews with board members were conducted, as well as "forensic analysis of emails," according to a copy of the results obtained by Three Village Patch.

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The leaked letter originated from the district's labor attorney, Gregory Guercio of Farmingdale. It was a draft that advised the board not to approve a memorandum of agreement with the Three Village Teachers Association, which board president John Diviney said at the time had been significantly altered before the letter was circulating in the community via email and social networking sites.

Brian Butry, communications coordinator for the New York State School Boards Association, says the fact that the district paid for the investigation shows a commitment to taking the allegation seriously.

"A violation like that breaks the trust of confidentiality," he said.

Lederer says while it is unfortunate that the investigation failed to get to the bottom of the incident, he isn't dwelling on it.

"I've moved beyond it. We will be very careful how information is shared in the future," he said.

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