BY NEAL RENTZ

An attorney for Jennifer Conte, one of five Bedford Hills Elementary School teachers on paid leave, said Monday his client,had done nothing improper in interviewing a student who was a sex abuse victim.

In another interview Monday, Ken Kurzweil, a former president of the Bedford Teachers Association, said the union was supporting the teachers.

- GEORGE SANTANGELO, ATTORNEY

Bedford police arrested the school's principal, Victoria Graboski, on Sept. 1 on a misdemeanor charge of failure to report a suspected case of child abuse/maltreatment, a violation of Social Services Law. According to the complaint against Ms. Graboski, on or about Dec. 21, 2005, the principal is alleged to have received information from a parent of a student at the elementary school about suspected child abuse.

On Aug. 29, Ms. Graboski was plar_ed on administrative leave. Ms. Co.ite, an ESL teacher, and Regina Smith, an elementary consulting teacher, had their tenure rescinded and -ir probationary periods were exte . Two days later, three other school employees, who have not been named, were placed on administrative leave.

Ms. Conte's lawyer, George Santangelo, said his client "has done nothing wrong." He added that Ms. Conte has not been' charged by the Westchester County district attorney's office, but has been cooperating with officials from the district attorney's office, as well as the school district and board of education.

At the instruction of Ms. Graboski, Ms. Conte interviewed the young victim in December 2005 and reported back to the principal, Mr. Santangelo said.

"She was part of an investigation," he said.

The attorney declined to say what the student told her client during the inter-view.

Ms. Conte is being paid by the school district and is working on assignments from her home, Mr. Santangelo noted.

Ms. Conte had been given tenure earlier this year by the board of education. It was to have become effective on Sept. 1, but it has been rescinded, Mr. Santangelo said. Her probation period for tenure has been extended until Oct. 31, he noted.

Mr. Santangelo said if Ms. Conte lost her job in the district, she probably could not obtain a teaching position in the future. `

"She's a young woman who depends on her salary," he said. "It's a very important thing to keep her job."

Mr. Kurzweil, who was president of the teachers union for 14 years through June, said current president Adam Yuro asked him to assist the union in the cur-rent matter concerning the five teachers.

The union is strongly backing the teachers, Mr. Kurzweil said.

"We support the teachers in all ways," he said.

"All five of the teachers are dedicated, caring professionals," he said.

Mr. Kurzweil wanted to make clear that the teachers have not been suspended.

"The five teachers have not been suspended. They have not been accused of doing anything wrong," he said.

He added, "The district felt they had to do an investigation."

Mr. Kurzweil said he did not know how long the investigation would last and also said, "I can't talk about the specific details of the cases.

"It's something the district needs to do to protect the children and I under-stand that," he said.

Messages left for Michael Simco, head of the administrator's union, which includes Ms. Graboski, were not returned.

Superintendent comments Bedford superintendent of schools

Debra Jackson said she could not reply to Mr. Santangelo's comments about Ms. Conte's interview with the student.

"I can't comment on that. The conversations are part of the investigation," Dr. Jackson said Monday.

Dr. Jackson agreed with the comments by Mr. Santangelo and Mr. Kurzweil regarding the status of the five teachers.

"The teachers are not suspended. They have been placed on leave of absence," Dr. Jackson said.

Asked to address the union's sup-port of the five teachers, she said, "I'm aware of the teachers union's position on this," Dr. Jackson said.

Dr. Jackson said schools in the district do not employ social workers.

"We don't have social workers, we^l have school psychologists," she said, adding that a psychologist was on staff at the Bedford Hills Elementary School in December 2005.

The school psychologist, Kelly Cieszlinski, was not at Bedford Hills Elementary School this week, and calls to her Were referred to the district office.