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CHESTER, N.Y. (CBS 2) – In a famous scene in the comedy “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” a principal makes an unannounced house call to check up on a student who didn’t show up to school.
When it happened in real life for a family in Orange County, though, it was no laughing matter, reports CBS 2’s Lou Young.
The principal is a well-liked former lieutenant colonel in the Army with a no-nonsense demeanor.
The two students, ages 12 and 16, live at the home with their mother.
A criminal complaint alleges Chester Academy Principal Ernest Jackson entered the home without permission when the two boys didn’t come to school in late September, and actually tried to coax them out of their beds.
“You don’t walk into someone’s house,” Melanie Hunter said. “I could’ve been coming out of the shower.”
Jackson had a school psychologist with him during the unannounced visit. The boys’ mother wasn’t home, and there’s dispute over whether an adult relative passing by gave them permission to enter the home. The boys’ father, living in Brooklyn, filed the complaint a month after the incident.
“We’re looking at a simple trespass charge right now,” Chester Police Chief Peter Graziano said.
Graziano said he hasn’t seen anything like it since a mythical principal chased a famous movie character.
Residents in Chester seem to favor giving the principal the benefit of the doubt.
“I think his heart was in the right place, but he did the wrong thing,” Pat Wohlrab said.
“He really cares, he’s a good guy,” Ed Dunn said. “I’d want him to come and kick my kid in the butt if he saw my kid doing something wrong.”
The school superintendent told CBS 2 that Principal Jackson is on administrative leave until the school board takes up the matter next Tuesday night.
Jackson lives in Warwick with his wife and teenaged daughter. He is reserving comment until the school board meets.
When it happened in real life for a family in Orange County, though, it was no laughing matter, reports CBS 2’s Lou Young.
The two students, ages 12 and 16, live at the home with their mother.
A criminal complaint alleges Chester Academy Principal Ernest Jackson entered the home without permission when the two boys didn’t come to school in late September, and actually tried to coax them out of their beds.
“You don’t walk into someone’s house,” Melanie Hunter said. “I could’ve been coming out of the shower.”
Jackson had a school psychologist with him during the unannounced visit. The boys’ mother wasn’t home, and there’s dispute over whether an adult relative passing by gave them permission to enter the home. The boys’ father, living in Brooklyn, filed the complaint a month after the incident.
“We’re looking at a simple trespass charge right now,” Chester Police Chief Peter Graziano said.
Graziano said he hasn’t seen anything like it since a mythical principal chased a famous movie character.
Residents in Chester seem to favor giving the principal the benefit of the doubt.
“I think his heart was in the right place, but he did the wrong thing,” Pat Wohlrab said.
“He really cares, he’s a good guy,” Ed Dunn said. “I’d want him to come and kick my kid in the butt if he saw my kid doing something wrong.”
The school superintendent told CBS 2 that Principal Jackson is on administrative leave until the school board takes up the matter next Tuesday night.
Jackson lives in Warwick with his wife and teenaged daughter. He is reserving comment until the school board meets.
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