Observations from Olean High School Principal Arrest on December 12
An OPINON by Eric M. Firkel, OleanStar.com, pictured is Olean High School
On December 12, Jeff Andreano was charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child and Harassment in the City of Olean, after an incident with a student earlier in December.
The same day Jeff was charged, there was a fight at the Olean High School. Students sheltered in place and teachers and staff were reluctant to intervene and break up the fight, lest they be put on administrative leave by the District or charged criminally like Jeff. When the fight was over, an Olean High School student was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries.
These two events, occurring on the same day call into question the role of teachers in 2025, and how policies that are intended to protect students can go too far and put students at risk.
Rick Miller had a story prepared to drop on December 12, but we sat on it over the weekend because some of the facts did not make sense. Rick attempted to get statements from the alleged victim’s mother, the police, the District and Andreano’s counsel. By Monday, we had not heard from all parties, but we had given everyone the opportunity to provide comment. We corrected some earlier inaccuracies, but since Jeff was only charged with one Misdemeanor, so we decided not to publish.
There was no reason to write a story that would invariably get picked up by the Buffalo stations due to the bombastic headline. “Olean Pricnipal charged with Endangering the Welfare of a Child.” Then the Olean Times Herald published an article where they predictably got the facts wrong (Jeff was not charged with more than one misdemeanor), and then lazily used Dr. Morris’s statement as filler; so we felt obliged to publish our article which was, at least factually accurate.
Factually accurate as it was, our article was not complete. I am sensitive to people wrongfully getting bad ink. After speaking with several witnesses here is some of the context we did not have when we published and we will pose some questions on the role of teachers and school administrators in 2025.
OBSERVATION 1: WHEN PEOPLE USE THE ‘PASSIVE VOICE’ THEY’RE USUALLY EITHER LYING, AVOIDING RESPONSIBILITY, OR THEY’RE JUST BAD WRITERS.
Dr. Morris’s statement was terrible. She referred to Jeff Andreano as “an administrator” when she says she “was recently made aware of an administrator’s arrest.” The guy’s been teaching in Olean for decades. Everyone at the school knew who she was talking about. At least give the guy the respect of using his name.
Dr. Morris then doubles down on the passive voice and double speak. She says this is a confidential matter; then she says they will handle this matter with transparency. She speaks of student safety as students are carted off to OGH via ambulance because another school fight.
Here are questions Dr. Morris should answer:
Where was the school resource officer? Why wasn’t he involved?
If he was off school property, why?
Are teachers ever allowed to physically restrain a student? What if the student is beating a smaller student? What if the aggressor student has a weapon? What if the weapon is a gun? Can teachers protect themselves? Can they protect students?
Would the school resource officer have been placed on administrative leave if he had physically restrained a student? Would the school resource officer have been charged criminally?
Historically, teachers stood ‘in loco parentis’, that’s a Latin phrase that means in the place of the parents. I know it’s 2025, but parents are still permitted to use physical force to protect themselves and other children.
READ THE REST OF THE COLUMN HERE
