A 35-year-old Syosset middle school English teacher was arrested Thursday for maintaining an inappropriate journal with a student, Nassau police said.
Ian Edrich, of East Meadow, had a journal with a 13-year-old boy that “contained comments from the teacher to the student that were immoral, unhealthy and inappropriate between an adult and a child,” police said in a statement.
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The 7th grade teacher at Thompson Junior High School was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Edrich surrendered to police at the Second Precinct without incident, police said. He will be arraigned at First District Court in Hempstead on Thursday.
“The Syosset Central School District immediately contacted law enforcement officials when this matter was brought to our attention,” school officials said in a statement, adding that Edrich has been suspended. “This teacher is prohibited from being on school property and all his school district Internet accounts, including email access, have been disconnected.”
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I am a former student of Mr.Edrich I had him several years ago when i was in the 7th grade. He was a phenominal teacher that all of the students loved but now that I am a college graduate student I see him in a whole new light. There were deffinatly some times where he has acted inappropriate. For those of you who were current students or have had him recently you are still very young and may not understand there is a boundary that should be there between teachers and students. A teacher is a professional they are not meant to be your friends.I am not saying i think that Mr.Edrich had any plans to make his relationship with this boy go any further, because those accusations cannot be made lightly.but he absolutely did some things which were inappropriate and crossed boundaries not just in this case but in the past as well.
im frineds with the kid who he had to jernal with and i WAS frineds with Mr Edrich
haha sydney
Surprised to hear that the Syosset School did something! They didn’t do a thing when my son was abused in middle school physically, mentally, and emotionally for several months- happened in school and on the bus. His whole body was peppered with punch marks and bruises. This went on for months till the pediatrician discovered it. As a result, he is maimed for life. We transferred him to a private school; came back in high school, when the mental and emotional abuse went on!
he used to tickle my toes when i got the right answer
I had Mr. Edrich for part of my 9th grade year in 2002, I think. He was a really wonderful teacher. I hope he gets a fair hearing, no matter what.
Today my family was subjected to the absolute worst qualities that a school administrator…no—make that–a human being can offer. Ego getting in the way of a child’s best interests; and spite and revenge showing their ugliest presence as a means of sending a message. Physical abuse is not the only way in which a teacher or administrator can perpetrate a violation of trust and of decency.
I have known Ian for 10 years and I have NOTHING but great things to say about him. He was my camp counselor when my dad died and totally reached out to me and helped me grieve. Ian helped me grow as a person and was an amazing influence on my life. He is a phenomenal person and I’d bet my life he did nothing wrong. Shame on these people for ruining this poor mans life.
Intrepid,
The police stated that they do not believe the boy was touched inappropriately. If he was being groomed, all the attention and affection being showered on him was being done specifically to make him comfortable. That’s what a grooming predator does.
I am not saying Edrich was or wasn’t grooming, but that is how it works. If he was grooming him, thank God he was stopped before more damage was done to this child.
Unless you had Edrich as a teacher, you could not understand. He is a phenomenal educator. This is a man who was able to help the most struggling English students become avid readers. As a college graduate, I look back at when Mr. Edrich was my teacher and I only remember great times. This was a man who encouraged me to pursue English, leading to me graduating college with an English degree. He is inspiring and truly enjoys educating. At 22 years old, I remember “Hamlet” with him better than I do from a Shakespeare course in college. He does not stop until a student understands. So what if students eat lunch with him? What is wrong with students eating lunch with a teacher? I ate lunch with a female teacher in middle school, does that make her inappropriate, or a lesbian, or suggesting a future sexual relationship? Syosset teachers are required to be in their classrooms so students can come to them with help with curriculum. It’s called Lunch Workshop and it is designed to HELP students. How is it that STUDENTS CAN FRIEND THEIR TEACHERS ON FACEBOOK but a journal comment (that still has not been disclosed) causes an amazing man to lose his job? Until Syosset, and most other districts, can clarify the boundaries between teacher and student [nonsexual] relationships, this case is void. Edrich is innocent until proven guilty, and judging by the comments from dedicated and concerned students and parents, it sounds like he is innocent. Chances are, this is just another insane Syosset parent making a big deal out of nothing. Syosset just lost an incredible teacher, so a big thanks to that insane parent who is making a big deal out of nothing.
How interesting that the police forgot to tell everyone that the child involved did not have any negative feelings about the relationship until his Mother told him what she thought to be going on.
Maybe Mommy sees a good law suit and the district is afraid. Typical. They should have stood behind this man but as usual they ran and hid… how sad for the students at HBT and the Syosset community as a whole.
i go to the other middle school in the district which by the way is an excellent school district with excellent teachers but when this story was published and people found out we werent even allowed to discuss it in class. if we did, the teachers would yell at us and tell us that it was none of our buisness. a lot of the kids who had him had found out and told there friends here. one of my friends said that he was her favorite teacher. but what the media fails to see is that the curriculum for 7th grade in syosset is keeping journals and english teachers checking them to help us with our writing. i agree with who ever sees the lie and truly believe that all the teacher wrote was one little comment. the child was writing i couldnt live without your friendship and stuff like that. he said i love you, not the english teacher. the fact that minors cant be blamed for anything is the reason why kids get away with so much stuff. there are kids in that grade who supposedly smoke but parents fail to see it because they look at their children as angels.
When i started they 7th grade this yr i was so excited to hear tht i was getting Mr.Edrich. If i had to write an essay about him it would be 10 pages long. I never was a good reader or writer untill He taught me how to be a better reader and writer.He is surely my inspiration. On Mondays we always talk about our weekends and this Monday Ms. Edis and Ms. Pross tried to make it the same fun monday wit jokes tht u would laugh at but it was just not the same. Wednesdays he held an amazing fun club called Photoclub.Now its no more and i am so upset. I had surgery over the break and i came bk to this madness i just wanted to cry. im miss him so much. he the best teach i ever had.