Long Island principal accused of plagiarizing yearbook message to departing seniors

ROOSEVELT, N.Y., June 18 (UPI) -- A Long Island principal is accused of taking a yearbook message that was written by one of his peers across the county and making it his own.

Dr. Steven Strachan of Roosevelt High School allegedly copied the message he left for his departing seniors from a principal in Albany, Calif.

In a statement to News 12, Strachan referred to the situation as a "clerical error."

If it is, it's a pretty big one, as Strachan ended the statement to Roosevelt seniors with the message: "Congratulations to the Albany High School Class of 2013!"

According to Strachan, he had the Albany principal's permission to use the remarks and an unedited version of his statement was accidentally published.

"That's embarrassing ... To use another person's words when you could have taken five, ten minutes out of your time to write a nice letter to us," said Roosevelt senior Jordan David.

The yearbooks are being reprinted and will be handed out again later this week.