"ANOTHER CRIME BY A SCHOOL OFFICIAL"
Poughkeepsie Journal
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Vice principal
Clinton Knoll is accused of falsely reporting an incident and knowingly making a false statement, both misdemeanors. He was arrested Monday and released from Dutchess County Jail on $1,000 bail. He is due in Hyde Park town court Thursday.
Knoll, of Ulster County, was arrested two weeks after he was found bleeding in a bathroom at Roosevelt High School. The incident prompted a day-long lockdown and drew resources from three police agencies.
The 35-year-old Knoll grew up in Town of Shawangunk, one of five children, according to his father's death notice.
Was high school teacher
Knoll worked in the Washingtonville school district in Orange County as a high school science teacher in the 2001-02 school year, according to the state Education Department.
''Everything I heard, it was all positive,'' said Fred Cook, president of the Washingtonville school board. Cook said he didn't know Knoll personally and other board members said Knoll left the district because he obtained a better position.
Washingtonville Superintendent William Swart said Knoll was a tenured science teacher in good standing and had worked for the district for more than a decade. During the 2001-02 school year, he did his internship as an assistant principal at the high school.
''If he had stayed in the district, he certainly would have been considered a candidate'' for an administrative position in Washingtonville, Swart said.
Knoll graduated from Orange County Community College in 1989 with an associates degree in math and science. In May 2001, he received a masters of professional science degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz. The degree was in humanistic and multicultural education.
He received a permanent certification as a school administrator and as a biology/general science teacher from the state in September 2001.
Joined Hyde Park
In August 2002, the Hyde Park Board of Education approved Knoll's probationary appointment as an assistant principal at Roosevelt High School. At the time, his salary was $75,352.
Knoll was a member of the Hyde Park Administrators Association, the union for the district's administrators and principals. Union President Carol Meissner, the principal Haviland Middle School, could not be reached for comment.
But Dan Kuffner, president of the Hyde Park Teachers Association, said the district was responding to the situation in ''an appropriate manner.''
''I have faith the district will take care of it,'' he said.
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