I was surprised to find a new leasing arrangement recently announced by Tech Valley High School resulted in unflattering, front-page, above-the-fold coverage in the Times Union ("School's transfer surprises landlord," Feb. 15). As the parent of a Tech Valley High student, I was interested in why this fairly straightforward administrative transaction elicited so much notoriety and implied criticism.
My read suggests that Tech Valley High, a tenant on the University at Albany East Campus, will reach the end of its lease in August 2014. The school's administrators have determined a location near UAlbany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering would be a benefit. As a result, they will enter into a new leasing arrangement as a tenant on UAlbany's main campus within the NanoCollege, giving the University at Albany Foundation 15 months' notice of its intent. This plan sounds completely thoughtful and reasonable.
The Times Union has chosen to paint the announcement as a criticism of the high school and its abandonment of the East Campus, apparently based on the fact the various entities within UAlbany never communicated with each other about the planned move.
After discovering the high school's current landlord, the Foundation, is headed by George R. Hearst III, the Times Union's publisher and CEO, it became much clearer how this issue of infighting within UAlbany became a front-page reproach of the high school. I hope the next time UAlbany principals are quarreling, the Times Union refrains from using photos of our children to deflect its problems onto a school that has contributed so strongly to the Capital Region's educational resources and its reputation as a tech-savvy region.
SUE BRISSETTE CASS
East Nassau