WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. February 19, 2005: One week after 11 White Plains High School underage students (reported to be juniors, 10 boys, 1 girl) were arrested by Greenburgh Police at the scene of a private drinking party at the Marriott hotel in Tarrytown after their Junior prom, the Principal of White Plains High School has sent letters today to high school parents on the matter.

Greenburgh Town Supervision Paul Feiner has not returned WPCNR telephone calls to respond to the question of whether the Marriott Hotel will be charged in the matter.

Mr. Toper personally addressed the White Plains High School student body over the WPHS public address system Tuesday morning on the arrests. He angrily told the student body how ashamed he was of the arrested students for their bad judgment. He said they had embarrassed their school, embarrassed themselves and embarrassed the city. He assured there would be reprisals and suspensions forthcoming for those students.

Here is Mr. Toper’s message to parents that they received in Saturday’s mail:

Dear Parents:

As some of you may be aware, several students from White Plains High School were arrested last Friday night while attending a  private, unsupervised party at a hotel in Tarrytown. This occurred after a very successful Junior Semi-Formal which was held at a different hotel in White Plains.

I’m writing to inform you that we have been notified of those (students) arrested and to reassure you that we will be taking appropriate steps to respond to this situation. Underage alcohol abuse is a nationwide problem and we are very disappointed that some of our students chose to celebrate in this manner.

As parents and educators, we must work together to address this problem. I would like to ask you to talk with your child about this incident and impress upon him/her the serious consequences of participating in parties where alcohol is available to underage students. Fortunately, in this case, no one was injured and the (Greenburgh) police were able to intervene early. The consequences, however, could have been much more serious.

Than you for your continued support as we look for ways to prevent these types of situations in the future. We are truly grateful for any help you can provide.

Sincerely,

Ivan Toper

Principal