Principal’s sloppy copy
Caught plagiarizing in note to SI teachers
A Staten Island principal was taught a lesson in Cheating 101 when he sent a seemingly heartfelt essay to every schoolteacher — and was exposed as a plagiarist.
In a bewildering move, Tottenville HS Principal Joseph Scarmato penned a 489-word message to kick off the start of the school year that contained hardly a single original thought.
All but 57 words were pilfered from a 2013 Huffington Post entry by Canadian professor and education consultant Dean Shareski.
A school staffer easily detected the rip-off by using the same plagiarism checker that routinely snares students.
“Go help kids learn, smile and belong. Ask hard and interesting questions. Try new things. Share what you’re learning. Ask for help,” read both the professor’s essay — in which Shareski imagines what he’d like a principal to say to his or her teachers — and the principal’s e-mail.
“We know not every day will be awesome. We work with kids. They are much like us only at the beginning of their learning journey. It’s our wisdom and care that they need,” both of the works say.
The school leader even copied some of the more generic lines verbatim, including, “I hope you had a relaxing restful summer, because you deserve it.”
Scarmato made some minor tweaks to the piece, writing “Continue to be awesome” rather than “Go be awesome” and changing the British spelling of “honour” to “honor.”
An anonymous school tipster
I did not set a good example for my students . . . I apologize for my mistake. — Tottenville HS Principal Joseph Scarmato
who notified The Post about the principal’s e-mail noted that the letter at first blush was “well-written and came from the heart.”
But the staffer said the note sounded overly familiar on second read, and decided to run it through the plagiarism checker.
“I was shocked to find out he completely copied the letter to us and did not even credit the original author,” the source said. “I find this to be hypocritical, especially since he has instituted new regulations against students plagiarizing other’s works.”
The city’s most recent student discipline code describes plagiarism as a level 3 infraction that can get students anything from a minor punishment to a suspension of up to 90 days, depending on the egregiousness of the violation.
While Scarmato borrowed nearly the entire essay, he left out the one section where the principal asks to be held accountable for the administration’s failings.
“I’m sorry if we’ve not given you the trust and respect to do your job,” the excluded segment reads. “This is what we as leaders need to do better.”
When reached for comment, however, he owned up to having made a mistake.
“I admit that this was a bad judgment call and that I did not set a good example for my students and staff,” Scarmato told The Post.
“I apologize for my mistake and remain committed to serving my school community.”
Department of Education officials declined to comment, but said they don’t plan to discipline the school leader.