Horse Mishap

Re “Principal Says He OKd Horse at School Party,” Nov. 2.

Robert Caplan, the first-year principal at Castlebay Lane Elementary School, will probably lose his job. After the incident in which a horse bolted during a Halloween parade at his school, in a local television news interview, Mr. Caplan denied giving permission to allow the horse on campus.

I am reminded of Bill Clinton’s “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky” speech. Unlike Mr. Caplan, who made his denial to a local television news crew, Bill Clinton made his denials to a national TV audience, in a sworn deposition, and to a federal grand jury. Bill Clinton got off, for the most part, scot-free.

Perhaps Mr. Caplan should have taken Bill Clinton’s example more to heart. He (Mr. Caplan) should have continued his “no permission” claim a lot longer, instead of caving in at such an early point in the investigation. He should have waited until the LAUSD expended tens of millions of dollars investigating the matter, much like Clinton did in the Lewinsky affair, before admitting what everybody else already knew. It was his word against the teacher’s. And 34 11-year-olds.

It seems that when it comes to admitting wrongdoing, the example set by Bill Clinton is fresh in everyone’s mind: Deny it!

MICHAEL J. ALLEGRETTI

Northridge

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Re Principal Robert Caplan’s handling of the horse accident.

This is just another example of the sorry leadership (more properly, lack of same) in the Los Angeles Unified School District. When I saw him on television denying he gave the teacher permission to bring the horse to school, I felt he was pretty quick to blame others for what was ultimately his responsibility. Can anyone say Supt. [Ruben] Zacarias?

But what prompted me to write this note were [assistant superintendent] Dan Isaacs’ comments in describing the accident: “It ended up being a tragedy.” A sad accident, yes, but a tragedy? I don’t think so. Where do we get these sorry LAUSD administrators that (1) don’t take leadership responsibility and (2), further, have such a sorry command of the English language?

TRUDY SIBLEY

Northridge