NYC teacher scolded for assigning fifth graders to write Christmas cards to inmate
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A teacher has received a warning letter from the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board for making her fifth graders write Christmas cards to a friend serving time in prison.
The cards contained the children's names and in some cases addresses. They were intercepted by a corrections officer.
According to The New York Times (http://nyti.ms/QEZqUw ), Melissa Dean escaped harsher punishment because she resigned in June.
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Dean taught at P.S. 143 in Queens. Last December she told her class to write the cards to people who were lonely.
Instead, she sent the cards to a friend, John Coccarelli, serving time for illegal weapons possession. Prosecutors say he was also charged with possessing child pornography but it was not brought to trial because he pleaded guilty to a charge calling for a longer sentence.
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Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com